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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Metcalf's Language Series 



Language Exercises 



ROBERT C. METCALF 
» • 

SUPERVISOR OF SCHOOLS, BOSTON, MASS. 
AND 

ORVILLE T. BRIGHT 

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, ENGLEWOOD, ILL. 




IVISON, BLAKEMAN, AND COMPANY 
Ipublisbers 
NEW YOEK AND CHICAGO 

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Copyright, 

1889, 

By IVISOX, BLAKEMAX & CO. 



PRESS OF HENRY H. CLARK & CO., BOSTON. 



PREFACE. 

The use of language is controlled very largely by habit 
Hence, language teaching resolves itself into such training 
as will tend to form correct habits of speaking and writing. 

Technical grammar is the science of language. We study 
it to learn of the construction of sentences and of the forms 
and uses of words. Such knowledge will doubtless help us 
to a critical rather than to the ordinary use of language. 
He who depends upon his knowledge of Grammar to help 
him through a speech, or even in his every-day conversa- 
tion, will doubtless find that his thoughts, when they are 
seeking expression in words, are far from Grammars and 
grammatical rules. He will find that the fluency and cor- 
rectness of his speech depend almost entirely upon habits 
which have been formed by long practice. 

Professor W. D. Whitney, in the preface to his Essen- 
tials of English Grammar, very truly says : — 

"It is constant use and practice, under never-failing watch and 
correction, that makes good writers and speakers ; the application of 
direct authority is the most efficient corrective. Grammar has its part 
to contribute, but rather in the higher than the lower stages of the 
work. One must be a somewhat reflective user of language to amend 
even here and there a point by grammatical reasons ; and no one ever 
changed from a bad speaker to a good one by applying the rules of 
grammar to what he said." 

The teacher, then, should aim in the class-room to give 
his pupils such training as will tend to form correct habits 
of expression. He must remember that language is an 
expression of thought; and, consequently, that correct 
thinking should precede expression^ The thought of the 
pupil being clear, the teacher should give frequent oppor- 
tunities for its expression. 



IV PREFACE. 

It is the aim of this book to furnish pupils with such 
exercises as will give them the necessary practice in ex- 
pression. For this purpose the daily school work is drawn 
upon to furnish material for language-lessons. Geography 
and History, as well as the ordinary reading-lessons and 
Natural History studies, supply an abundance of such 
material, and it is hoped that these exercises will prove 
helpful and suggestive to teachers. 

Numerous exercises will be found, in which pupils are 
led to study ivords, with the expectation that such study 
will add interest as well as value to the language-work. 
A study of many of the best poems of American writers is 
also given, with the hope that, even in the early years 
of school life, children may learn to love what is purest 
and best in our own literature. 

The selections from Holmes, Longfellow, Lowell, Whit- 
tier, and the Gary Sisters, which appear in this book, 
and the portraits at the head of the chapters in Part III., 
are used by permission of Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & 
Company. We are under a similar obligation to Messrs. 
D. Appleton & Company, for kindly permitting us to use 
several selections from the copyright works of William 
Cullen Bryant. The attention of teachers and pupils is 
also called to many other poems, which it is hoped they 
will find time to read. For convenience of reference, a full 
list of the publications containing the works of the same 
authors may be found on page 223. 

This little book is sent out with a confidence born of 
many years of experience in the class-room. That it may 
help to further the language-work now so vigorously pro- 
secuted in most of our schools is the sincere wish of 

THE AUTHORS. 



PART I. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



Chapter One. 

LESSOR I. 



Language. 

To the Teacher. — The following lesson should be carefully read in 
class, and every statement should be fully discussed. 

We express our thoughts by means of language, 
sometimes by speaking, sometimes by writing or print- 
ing, and sometimes by signs. 

Spoken, or oral, language is addressed to the ear. 
Written or printed language is addressed to the eye. 

Language is made up of sentences, and sentences 
are made up of words. Oral words are made up of 
sounds, and written words, of letters which usually 
represent sounds. 

There are about forty sounds in the different words 
of our language, and only twenty-six letters to repre- 
sent them. Some letters must, of course, represent 
more than one sound; thus, the letter a in the word 
fate has one sound, while in the word fat it has an- 
other sound, and in the word far still another. 

The words bird, dog, horse, cow, all bring to mind 
ideas of things that we have seen. The words noise 



2 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

and sound recall ideas of what we have heard; and 
cold, hot, rough, and smooth make us think of what 
we have felt. A word does not give us an idea of 
something that we know nothing about ; it simply 
recalls to the mind an idea of something that we 
have known. Hence we say that words are signs of 
ideas. 

LESSON II. 
Words. 

There are three words in the English language that 
have only one letter each. Will you name them and 
use them in sentences? 

Some words can be pronounced with one impulse of 
the voice ; as, boat, ship, cat, bird. Such words have but 
one syllable, and are called monosyllables (one syllable). 

Some words are pronounced with two impulses of 
the voice ; as, be-lieve, worship, sen-tence. Such words 
are dissyllables (two syllables). 

Words having three syllables are trisyllables (three 
syllables) ; as, syl-la-ble, im-pid-ses. Words of more 
than three syllables are polysyllables (many syllables); 
as, mon-o-syl-la-ble, pol-y -syl-la-ble. 

1. What are monosyllables? Select the monosyllables 
in the first sentence of this lesson. 

2. What are dissyllables ? Select the dissyllables in the 
first sentence of Lesson I. 

3. What are trisyllables? Select five trisyllables from 
Lesson I. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 3 

4. What are polysyllables? Find four polysyllables in 
this lesson. 

5. What does the word teacher bring to your mind? 
the word school? blue? jump? 

6. What is meant by Words are signs of ideas ? 

iiESSox m. 

Letters. 

letters are divided into vowels and consonants. A 
vowel is a letter that represents what is called a 
pure tone; that is, a tone made by letting the voice 
flow freely through the organs of speech. 

The letters a, e, i, o, u are vowels; y also is a vowel 
when it has any one of the sounds of the vowel i. 
No word nor even a syllable of a word can be written 
without using one of these six letters. 

In the word high, only the first two letters are 
sounded. The last two are silent letters. In the word 
groan, a is silent. In are, e is silent. 

Note..— W, when heard as in few and cow, has the sound of 6o, and 
is a vowel. 

1. In the following words, sound each letter and tell 
whether it is a vowel or a consonant: crab, from, stem, 
jump, mind, skip, fond. 

2. Which are the silent letters in steam, same, ivalk, sigh, 
laid, half, calm. 

3. Tell whether y is a vowel or a consonant in the 
following words : my, yes, fly, yonder, dry. 

4. What five letters are vowels? 



4 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON IV. 
Vowel Exercises. 

1. From the following list, select the words having the 
same sound of a: 

cap, cape, lane, male, fat, man, grate, take, at, have. 

How many different sounds has a in the ten words ? 

2. Select the words having the same sound of e: 
red, pet, feet, tree, mean, stem, head, steam, see, set. 

How many different sounds of e in the words ? 

3. Select the words having the same sound of i: 
fine, thine, limb, climb, pine, mine, rip, ripe, win, wine. 

How many different sounds of i do you find ? 

4. Select the words having the same sound of o: 
note, not, lot, coat, comb, stop, throw, go, got, drove. 

How many different sounds of o do you find ? 

5. Select words having the same sound of u : 

tune, flute, tub, cut, tube, cube, blunt, hum, thumb, June. 

How many different sounds of u in these words ? 

LESSON V. 
Vowel Exercises (Continued). 

In the dictionary, a mark placed above or below a vowel 
shows what sound should be given to it. This aids us in 
pronouncing the word correctly. 

The two most common marks are the macron ( - ) to show 
the long sound, and the breve ( * ) to show the short sound. 

The vowels in the following words are correctly marked : 

ate, at, steam, stem ; hide, hid ; hole, hot ; tune, tub. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 5 

Give the long and the short sound of each vowel by 
itself. 

Now write the words in the five lists in Lesson IV., and 
place a macron or a breve over the proper letter in each. 

To the Teacher. — Pupils should be taught to use a dictionary as 
soon as possible after entering upon the fourth year of school. The 
object of such exercises as the foregoing, is to make the pupil familiar 
with the marks used in the dictionaries to indicate the proper pronun- 
ciation of words. When this object is accomplished, further exercises 
of this kind should be given occasionally for the purpose of review, 
but should not be allowed to consume time belonging to other work. 

Note. — In this book the grades are numbered from the lowest (first) 
grade to the highest. 

LESSON VI. 

Statements. 

To the Teacher. — Ask the pupils to look at their slates and to 
think about them. Then ask them to tell what they have thought. 
Select a few of the best expressions, and require the pupils to write 
them. Something like the following may be the result : 

1. My slate was bought more than a month ago. 

2. My father bought my slate in Chicago. 

3. I dropped my slate upon the floor yesterday. 

4. A slate is a very useful article. 

To the Teacher. — Exercises like the following should be oral, and 
should lead to familiar conversation with the pupils. After the sub- 
ject is well understood, pupils may be required to write answers to the 
printed questions. 

1. How many thoughts are expressed on your slate? 

2. How many groups of words have you used in ex- 
pressing those thoughts? 

3. A group of words expressing a complete thought is called 
a sentence. How many sentences have you used? 



6 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

4. A sentence that states, or tells, something, is called a state- 
ment. How many statements have you made ? 

5. With what kind of letter have you begun each sen- 
tence ? 

6. What mark have you placed at the end of each sen- 
tence ? 

I/ESSOX VII. 
Questions. 

To the Teacher. — Place some object, as, for instance, a book, before 
the class. Ask them to think about it. Let the pupils ask questions 
about it. Require them to write a few of the most sensible questions. 
Something like the following may be the result: 

1. What is the name of the book ? 

2. To whom does the book belong? 

3. Of what is the book made ? 

4. How much did the book cost? 

5. Where was the book bought ? 

Answer in oral sentences. 

1. Of what were you thinking when you asked the first 
question? Ans. I was thinking of the name of the book. 

2. Of what were you thinking when you asked the sec- 
ond question ? the third ? the fourth ? the fifth ? 

3. What is a sentence f 

4. Are the five groups of words which you have written 
sentences ? Why ? 

5. What one name, then, will include both statements 
and questions? 

6. With what kind of letter does each sentence begin ? 

7. What mark is placed at the end of eacli question ? 

8. Make a rule for the use of capital letters in sentences. 

9. Make a rule for the use of the period. 

10, Make a rule for the use of the interrogation point. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 7 

IiESSOK Till. 

Study carefully the spelling, capitals, and punctuation 
in this lesson. 

Dictation Exercise. 

Deaf and dumb people can neither speak nor hear. 
They have a sign language. Did you ever see them use 
this language ? Do they talk rapidly with it ? 

Many deaf mutes have been taught to speak. Then 
they are no longer mutes. 

Answer in complete sentences. 

1. Which words in the dictation exercise are dissyl- 
lables? Which is a trisyllable? How many mono- 
syllables ? 

In rapidly, why is y a vowel ? Give a reason for each 
punctuation mark. Why are the capitals used? What 
are mutes? What are deaf mutes? 

LESSOIST IX. 

Review. 

1. Make one statement about each of five different things 
in the room. 

2. How many sentences have you used ? 

3. With what kind of letter does each sentence begin ? 

4. What mark have you placed after each sentence ? 

5. Ask five questions about the same things. 

6. What words, in the five questions begin with capital 
letters, and why ? 

7. What mark is placed after each question ? 

8. How many kinds of sentences have you used, and 
what are their names ? 



8 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

WESSON X. 

The Sentence. 

Copy the following groups of words, and complete those 
that are not sentences : 

Every thing that breathes is an animal. 

An old man in tattered clothing. 

When in Boston did you enjoy ? 

Do little birds have a language ? 

On Christmas-day should we not remember the poor? 

While on my way to school this morning. 

1. Tell which of the foregoing groups of words are not 
sentences, and why they are not. 

2. Copy from your reading book five short statements 
and five questions. Have you copied sentences? How 
can you tell? 

3. Give one rule for the use of capital letters, one for the 
use of periods, and one for the use of interrogation marks 
in the sentences which you have copied. 

LESSON XI. 

Information Exercise. 

First, answer each question separately, and then com- 
bine each group of answers into one sentence. 

1. Give, in one sentence, the names of five animals ; of 
five plants, in another ; of five minerals, in another. 

2. Do animals grow? move about? breathe? feel? 
die? 

3. Do plants grow ? move about ? breathe ? feel ? die ? 

4. Do minerals grow? move about? breathe? feel? 
die? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 9 

IiESSON XII. 

Information Exercise. 

To the Teacher. — Lessons like this and the preceding are very sug- 
gestive, and niay require all the time that can be given to language- 
work for two or three days. Oral exercises should precede written, as 
pupils should not be required to write what they do not clearly under- 
stand. 

Kefer to Lesson XI. and answer the following questions : 

1. How do animals and plants resemble each other? 

3. How do animals and plants differ from each other? 

2, How do minerals differ from animals ? 

4. How do minerals differ from plants? 

5. How do minerals resemble plants? 

A whale, a fly, an elephant, a sparrow, a tiger, a snail, 
a beetle, a spider, a snake, and a worm are animals that 
differ widely from one another. Make two statements 
about each one. 

IiESSON XIII. 

A Story. (Original.) 

Write a true story about some animal that you have 
known. Please to note carefully the following suggestions : 

a. Be sure that each thought is complete before writing it in 
a sentence. 

b. Be sure to begin each sentence with a capital. 

c. Be sure to punctuate every sentence. 

d. Write as well as you can. 

e. If you have any doubt whatever about the spelling of a 
word, find it in the dictionary, or ask to have it written on the 
blackboard. 

/. Do not try to write too much. 



10 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

WESSON XIV. 

Information Exercise. 
First oral and then written. 

1. Are birds, fishes, and insects animals ? 

2. Which do you think are the five most useful 
animals ? 

3. Tell why each is useful ? 

4. What is the largest animal that you have seen ? 

5. Of what use, if any, is he to man ? 

6. Tell a story that you have heard or read about this 
animal. 

To the Teacher. — It is expected that very many questions will be 
asked and answered during the discussion of such lessons as the fore- 
going. Demand complete statements for all answers. New or difficult 
words should be written upon the blackboard. Such lessons should 
stimulate children to find out things for themselves. Hence, close the 
lesson with questions to be answered next day. 

liESSOX XV. 
Information Exercise. 

1. Name five important food plants. 

2. Which plant do you think feeds the most people ? 

3. Name three plants that are useful for clothing. 

4. What is the largest plant that you have seen ? 

5. Give some of its uses. 

6. Name some plants that are cultivated only because 
they are beautiful. 

7. Do you think such plants are useful ? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 11 

LESSOR XVI. 

Information Exercise. 

Some minerals are called metals. Gold, silver, copper, 
mercury, lead, tin, etc. are metals. 

1. Name six useful metals. 

2. Which do you think most useful ? Give reasons. 

3. How are minerals usually obtained ? 

4. Brass is made from two other metals. What are 
they? 

5. From what is steel made? 

6. From what mineral is window glass made ? 

LESSON XVII. 
Dictation and Classification. 

Study spelling, capitals, and punctuation. 

Dictation Exercise. 

Every thing in the world" is either animal, vegetable, or 
mineral. Things that we get from animals are called ani- 
mal productions. Things that we get from plants are 
called vegetable productions. Every thing else is mineral. 
So there are only three classes of objects. When we say a 
thing is animal, vegetable, or mineral, we classify it. 

Classification Exercise. 

Classify the objects named below, thus : Corn is a vege- 
table production. 



salt 


cotton 


leather 


hair 


pepper 


stone 


bread 


milk 


eggs 


coffee 


ivory 


water 


ribbon 


butter 


candv 


paper 



12 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

IiESSON XVIII. 

Story from a Picture. 




Write a story from the picture above, using the fol- 
lowing hints : 

The little boy and girl that you see in the picture are brother 
and sister. Where do they live? Do you think they are play- 
ing truant, or is it a holiday? Which is older, the boy or the 
girl, and what are their names? 

They have been out playing and have found a strange dog. 
I wonder what has happened to him! They found him lying 
by the side of the road and crying piteously. He looked up at 
them as though he would like to tell them what had happened. 
The children could hear the noise of a carriage that had just 
been driven by. Has he been run over, or has he been bitten 
by another dog? What are the children trying to do? Why 
do they pity the poor dog? 

When they have bound up the poor dog's foot, do you sup- 
pose they will take him to their own home? What a nice 
playfellow he will make if he gets well ! 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 13 

iLESSOX XIX. 
Pronunciation and Classification. 

Pronounce very distinctly the following words according 



to the marking : 








whdle 


sleek 


elm 


wid5w 


nobody 


bade 


petal 


horrid 


drain 


patriot 


forge 


sitting - 


minnows 


victory 


does (oe=ti) 


happiness 



Write in separate columns the monosyllables, the dis- 
syllables, and the trisyllables, arranging the words in each 
column alphabetically. 

Use each word in an oral sentence, speaking very dis- 
tinctly. 

LESSON XX. 

Commit the following selection to memory, studying the 
meaning of each sentence : 

A WORD TO BOYS. 

You are made to be kind, boys, — generous, magnanimous. 
If there is a boy in school who has a club-foot, don't let him 
know you ever saw it. If there is a poor boy with ragged 
clothes, don't talk about rags in his hearing. If there is a lame 
boy, assign him some part in the game that doesn't require 
running. If there is a hungry one, give him part of your din- 
ner. If there is a dull one, help him get his lesson. If there is 
a bright one, be not envious of him ; for if one boy is proud of 
his talents, and another is envious of them, there are two great 
wrongs, and no more talent than before. If a boy has injured 
you, and is sorry for it, forgive him. All the school will show 
by their countenances how much better it is than to have a 
great fuss. — Horace Mann. 

To the Teacher. — One or two conversation lessons may well be had 
upon the foregoing extract. Be sure that each sentence has suggested 
its appropriate thought. 



14 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

Chapter Two. 

IiESSON" I. 

Proper Names. 

The name of a particular person, place or thing is called 
a, proper name, or proper noun; as, John, Chicago, England. 

Dictation Exercise. 

Write the following sentences, and then select the proper 
nouns. Notice carefully the spelling and capital letters. 

1. Sleepy Hollow is near the Hudson River. 

2. Is not Bunker Hill in Boston ? 

3. The home of George Washington was in Virginia. 

4. In what State is the city of New York ? 

5. The cajrital of the United States is on the Potomac. 

6. Benjamin Franklin lived in Philadelphia. 

7. George Washington was inaugurated President of the 
United States on April 30, 1789, at New York. 

Oral Exercise on the foregoing sentences. 

1. Give reasons for the punctuation. 

2. Which proper nouns contain more than one word ? 

3. Make a rule for writing each word in the proper 
names. 

4. Classify the. words in the proper names according to 
the number of syllables. 

5. Select the statements in the dictation exercise. 

6. Select the questions. 

7. Change the first statement into a question. 

8. Change the first question into a statement. 

9. Tell some story about George Washington. 

10. State two or more facts about Benjamin Franklin. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 15 

WESSON II. 

Proper Names (Continued). 

1, Write five sentences, each containing the name of a 
boy and the name of the place where he lives. 

2, Write the same of five girls whom you know. 

3, Write a short account of a visit to one of these boys 
or girls. 

Note. — Read the suggestions in Lesson XIII., Chapter One, before 
writing. 

;LESSO]sr in. 

Names and Dates. 
Oral and then ivritten. 

Be sure of the capitals and of the spelling of the words 
that you will use in writing the answers to the following 
questions : 

Answer in complete sentences and use no abbreviations. 

1. When is your birthday ? 

2. On what date is Christmas ? 

3. Which is the shortest month ? 

4. Which months have thirty-one days ? 

5. Which months have thirty days ? 

6. Which is the middle day of the week ? 

7. On which days is there no school ? 

8. On which day of the iveek are your lessons poorest? 

9. When is Washi no-ton's birthdav ? 

10. On what date are you answering this question ? 

Make a new rule for the use of capitals. 



16 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



L.ESSON IV. 
Story from a Picture. 

Write a story from this picture. The girl, the boy, and 
the dog are the same that you saw on page 12. 




Suggestions. 

What have the children been doing? Was it good fun? Did 
the sticks float down the stream ? What did Carlo do ? How 
long had they been playing? 

What was the little girl trying to do when she fell off the 
bridge ? Was the water very deep ? Why did Carlo plunge 
into the water after the little girl? Could the brother help her? 
Did mamma and papa hear him when he called? What might 
have happened ? 

Was the little girl sick for a long time? I wonder whether 
Carlo used to go into the sick-room to see her? Was she glad 
that they had so good a dog? Do you suppose that papa and 
mamma were sorry that the children had taken pity on the 
poor, lame dog? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 17 

LESSOR V. 

Vowel Sounds. 

Some of the vowels have other sounds besides the long 
and the short sounds. 

The letter a has a different sound in each of these 
words : cane, can, tall, far, ask. 

You know the names of the first two sounds of a. The 
third is called broad a, and the fourth Italian a. The fifth 
sound is the hardest of all to learn. It is just midway be- 
tween short a and Italian a. It should be heard in such 
words as ask, grass, branch., dance, glass, task. 

1. Tell which of the following words have broad a and 
which have Italian a : far, fall, are, palm, talk, all, star, 
squall, mark, hard ? Mark the a in each word. 

2. Write five other words containing broad a, and five 
containing Italian a. 

WESSON VI. 
Vowel Sounds (Continued). 

The sound of o in move, of oo in moon, and of u in 
rude, are all exactly alike. The sound is called long oo, 
and the vowels are marked as you see them. 

The sounds of o in wolf, oo in foot, and u in bull, are 
all alike. The sound is called short oo. 

1. Pronounce the following words with the long oo 
sound, and tell how the vowels should be marked : v^hose, 
soon, true, prove, do, room, fruit, canoe, rule, brute. 

2. Pronounce the following words with the short oo 
sound, and tell how the vowels should be marked : push, 
good, foot, pull, woman. 

3. Review Lesson V. 



18 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON VII. 

Information Exercise. 

Study the following description of the fly until you can 
write it correctly from dictation : 

THE FLY. 

The fly is an insect, and so it has six legs and its body seems 
to be almost cut into three parts. On its head it has two large 
eyes ; and if you could look at it through a strong glass, you 
would see that each eye is made up of a great many small 
eyes. 

It has two wings, with which it can fly ; and the wings move 
so fast that they hum when the fly darts through the air. 

It has three pair of legs, and with them it can walk or run ; 
but it does not jump. 

Its feet are so made that it can walk up a wall or a pane of 
glass, or even crawl on the flat ceiling of a room. 

Wood's "Natural History Reader." 

Note. — The teacher may find it convenient to divide the dictation 
exercise above into two short ones. Similar extracts, containing 
valuable information, may be selected and dictated to the class. 

A few judicious conversation and observation lessons on the "Fly" 
will prepare the pupils for the language lessons which follow. 

Consult elementary works on Natural History, and, if possible, lead 
the children to examine specimens with the aid of magnifying glasses. 

Conversation Exercise. 
Suggestions. 

Tell what you know about each topic below. Be sure 
that your thoughts are properly expressed in sentences. 

1. The fly, an insect. Why? Its eyes, legs, feet, trunk. 

2. The egg — the grub — the hard shell. 

3. When the fly stops growing. 

4. How the fly eats. 

5. How it keeps itself clean. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 19 

lessok yra. 

Composition. 

Write a description of a fly, following the order of the 
" Suggestions " in Lesson VII. Add anything of interest 
that you have learned. 

LESSON" IX. 

Words and their Opposites. 

1, What are the opposites of rough, siveet, brittle, long, up, 
right, east, north, swift, best? 

2, Write sentences each of which shall contain one of 
the foregoing words and its opposite. 

Accented Syllables. 

Words of more than one syllable have what is called an 
accented syllable; that is, a syllable which is pronounced 
with a stronger impulse of the voice than the others in 
the same word. Thus, in the words yesterday, playing, and 
garden, the first syllables are accented. In the dictionaries 
such syllables are marked as follows : 

yes'ter day play'ing gar'den 

3, Separate the following words into syllables, and mark 
the accented syllable in each -.—delay, honest, becoming, 
syllable, others, belong, incomplete, believe, follow. 

Review. 

1. Arrange the words, in the list above, alphabetically. 

2. Classify them as to syllables. 

3. Mark the accented vowel in each word to indicate its 
sound. 

4. Is y a vowel or a consonant in the word syllable f 
Why? 



20 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSOR" X. 

Dictation Exercise. 

Study carefully the spelling, capitals, and punctuation 
of the following exercise : 

To the Teacher. — Dictate each sentence distinctly and but once. 

Bunker Hill is in Boston, the capital of Massachusetts. 
The battle of Bunker Hill was fought in June, 1775. The 
Americans fought on one side, and the British on the 
other. The British troops were assisted by the ships in 
the Charles River. Were the British or the Americans, 
victorious? Where is Bunker Hill Monument? 

1. Arrange in a column and separate into syllables all 
the dissyllables, marking the accented syllable of each 
word. 

2. Arrange and mark in the same way the trisyllables ; 
the polysyllables. 

3. Give reasons for the use of periods and question 
marks in the dictation exercise above. 

LESSON XI. 
Pronunciation. 

Pronounce distinctly the following words as they are 
marked : 

class bron chi' tis re cess' 

hearth. kef tie chll'dren 

root stamp'ing chance 

sau'cy roofless ba na'na 

1. Use each word in an oral sentence. 

2. Arrange all the words alphabetically, and mark, from 
memory, the accented vowels as in the dictionary. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 21 

LESSON XII. 

Dictation Exercise. 

Study carefully the following sentences, and find out the 
answers to the questions : 

To the Teacher. — Require each question to be written after one 
reading, and then have the answer written in a complete sentence. 

1. On what date is (or was) Easter Sunday this year? 

2. What occurs the first Monday of every December? 

3. What takes place, every fourth year, on the first 
Tuesday after the first Monday in November? 

4. How many days between Ash-Wednesday and Easter 
Sunday? 

5. What usually comes the last Thursday of November? 

6. What is the Friday before Easter called? 

7. Can there ever be five Saturdays in February ? 
Explain. 

LESSON XIII. 

Oral and then written. 

Fill each of the following blanks with is or are : 

1. Every one of the horses .... lame. 

2. John and Mary .... going with me. 

3. John or Mary .... going with me. 

4. Each of the children .... to receive a book. 

5. One of those books .... mine. 

Use was or were in each of the foregoing sentences. 
Complete the following sentences with 7, me, he, or him: 

1. Between you and .... it is not fair for him to say so. 

2. He can read better than .... but I can write better 
than 

3. I did not know that it was .... who broke the window. 

4. Mother gave the candy to ... . and 



22 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON XIV. 

Seeds and Plants. 
Oral and then written. 

1. In what season of the year does the farmer plant seed? 

2. Mention a few of the kinds of seed that he plants. 

3. How must the ground be prepared before planting ? 

4. Of what use is the root of the plant ? 

5. Why does a very large tree have very large roots ? 

6. Mention a small plant that has a large root. 

7. Name some roots that are good to eat. 

8. Of what use are the leaves of a plant ? 

9. Are the leaves ever used for food ? 

Composition. 

Write all that the foregoing questions suggest to you 
about seeds and plants. 

LESSON XV. 

1. Pronounce the following words as they are marked : 

rule vi'o let catch 

sin'gu lar hun' dred off 

be cause' glance pa pa' 

bon'net no'bod y mam ma' 

2. Use each word in a complete oral sentence which 
shall show that you know its meaning. 

3. Classify the words according to the number of syl- 
lables. 

Written. 

1. Use each word in a sentence. 

2. Which words are accented on the first syllable? 

3. Which words have no accent? Why? 

4. Which words are accented on the last syllable ? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 23 

LESSON" XVI. 

Stanzas, Verses, and Rhymes. 

To the Teacher. — Select a poem from the class Reader. Require the 
pupils to study it carefully, and then to answer the following questions : 

Answers in oral sentences. 

1. How many stanzas in the poem ? 

2. How many lines in each stanza ? 

3. Each line begins with what kind of letter ? 

4. Each line of poetry is one verse. How many verses 
in each stanza? 

5. How many verses in the poem ? 

6. In the first stanza select two verses that rhyme. 

7. How can you tell whether verses rhyme or not ? 

8= Please turn to a lesson in prose. How does it differ 
in appearance from the poetry ? 

9. Make a special rule for capitals in poetry. 

LESSON XVII. 

Stanzas, Verses, and Rhymes (Continued). 

Study carefully the following stanzas, as to verses, capi- 
tals, punctuation, and spelling. Study also what the au- 
thors wish to suggest to us. 

Dictation Exercise. 

"Great God, my Father and my Friend, 
On whom I cast my constant care, 
On whom for all things I depend, 
To thee I raise my humble prayer." 

"The unwearied sun, from day to day, 
Does his Creator's power display, 
And publishes to every land 
The work of an Almighty hand." 



24 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

Oral Exercise. 

1. How many verses have you written? 

2. Select the verses that rhyme. 

3. What names in the stanzas begin with capitals ? 

4. Why should those words begin with capitals ? 

5. Make a rule for writing such words. 

6. What other capitals have you used, and why? 

7. What is meant by " the unwearied sun" and "from 
day to day ? " 

8. What does the sun display ? How ? 

9. What does the third verse of the second stanza mean? 
10. Does the sun shine upon every land every day? 

LESSOR XVIII. 

Commit to memory the following poem, studying at the 
same time to get the best thought out of it : 

THE WIND AND THE LEAVES. 

1. " Come little leaves," said the wind one day, 
" Come o'er the meadows with me, and play. 
Put on your dresses of red and gold ; — 
Summer is gone, and the days grow cold." 

2. Soon as the leaves heard the wind's low call, 
Down they came fluttering, one and all ; 
Over the brown fields they danced and flew, 
Singing the soft little songs they knew. 

3. " Cricket, good-by, we 've been friends so long ! 
Pretty brook, sing us your farewell song; — 
Say you are sorry to see us go. 

Oh! you will miss us, right well we know. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 25 

4. "Dear little lambs, in your fleecy fold, 
Mother will keep you from harm and cold; 
Fondly we 've watched you in vale and glade : 
Say, will you dream of our loving shade?" 

5, Dancing and whirling, the little leaves went: 
Winter had called them, and they were content. 
Soon fast asleep in their earthly beds, 

The snow laid a coverlet over their heads. 

LESSON XIX. 

Study of Poem. 

Answers to be oral sentences. 

1. In the first stanza of " The Wind and the Leaves," 
who is speaking? 

2. What was the time of year? How do you know? 

3. About how old were the leaves ? 

4. What were the " dresses of red and gold "? At whose 
bidding did they put them on? What dresses did they 
lay off? 

5. How did the leaves " sing little songs "■? 

6. In the third stanza, who is speaking ? 

7. Why should the cricket and the leaves have been 
friends? the leaves and the brook? the leaves and the 
lambs ? 

8. How does a brook sing? Did you ever hear one? 
Where ? 

9. What is a " fleecy fold "? Do lambs dream? 

10. What is meant by " vale and glade "? 

11. How had winter called the leaves? In what sort of 
bed did they sleep ? Did they ever wake up ? 

12. What becomes of all the leaves year after year ? 



26 LANG UA GE EXERCISES. 

lessens" XX. 

Composition on Leaves. 
Oral one day and written the next. 

Divide your composition into two parts, — leaves in 
spring and summer, and leaves in autumn and winter. 
Follow the order of the questions below. 

When do the leaves come out? What is their color 
then? How does it change as summer comes on? Of 
what use are the leaves to the tree ? Of what other uses 
are they? 

When do the leaves put on bright colors? What causes 
them to do so? How long do their dresses of red and 
gold last? What happens then? Are the leaves of any 
further use? 

Rules convenient for reference. 

Rule 1 — The first word of every sentence should 
begin with a capital letter. 

Rule 2. — A period should be placed at the end of 
a complete statement ; as, This booJc is mine. 

Rule 3 — An interrogation-point should be placed 
at the end of a sentence which asks a question; as, 
Are you going to the lecture this evening ? 

Rule 4 — Every word in proper names should be- 
gin with a capital; as, George Washington, Mary 
Stuart, Boston, Chicago. 

Rule 5 — The names of the days of the week and of 
the months of the year should begin with capitals. 

Rule 6. — The first word in every line of poetry 
should begin with a capital. 

Rule 7. — All names applied to God should begin 
with capitals. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 27 



Chapter Three. 

LESSOR" I. 
Paragraphs. 

For convenience, books are divided into chapters, 
and chapters are divided into paragraphs. 

A paragraph is a division of a chapter which relates 
to some particular part of the subject upon which 
the author is writing. Thus, the first two lines of this 
chapter form a paragraph. 

The first word of a paragraph is usually set in, or 
indented, to the right of the first words in the lines 
above and below it. 

It would be much more difficult to read books if 
they were not divided into chapters and paragraphs. 
This you will easily understand if you will try to read 
some one's composition that has not been divided into 
paragraphs. 

A paragraph should contain all that relates to some 
particular part of a topic. If you will examine the 
paragraphs in any carefully written book, you can tell 
what the author is writing about in each one. 

There are usually two or more sentences in a para- 
graph, but it may contain only one. It must be re- 
membered that all the sentences in a paragraph should 
express thoughts which are closely related to each 
other. 



28 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

Answer in oral sentences. 

1. How many paragraphs are there on the preceding 
page? 

2. How many lines are indented ? What do you under- 
stand by indented f 

3. What is the first paragraph about? the second? the 
third ? the fourth ? the fifth ? 

4. Why should letters and other kinds of composition 
be divided into paragraphs? 

5. How can you tell when to begin a new paragraph ? 

IjESSON II. 

Dictation Exercise. 

Children are fond of strolling along the shore of any 
large body of water. They like to gather shells from the 
sand and to wade in the water. 

The shells which they find are of various sizes, colors, 
and shapes. The insides of the shells are always smooth, 
and sometimes they are very beautiful. Perhaps you can 
tell something about those which you have gathered. It 
will be better still, to bring them to school and examine 
them together. 

Did you ever think, children, that every shell has been 
the home of a living creature? 

Answer in complete sentences. 

1. How many paragraphs in the dictation exercise? 

2. Why should there be just that number of paragraphs? 

3. What is the first paragraph about? the second? the 
third ? 

4. Give a reason for the use of each period and of each 
question mark. 

• 5. Answer the question in the last paragraph. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 29 

LESSON III. 

Pronounce the following words according to the mark- 
ing : 

ac cent'ed bal loon' bal' us ter 

a gainst' (genst) bpu quet' (ka) bal'us trade 

al'ways. gel' lar eu' po la 

a' pri cot eor' al gri mace' 

1. Arrange the words alphabetically. 

2. Classify them as to their syllables. 

3. Use each word in a sentence which shall clearly show 
that you know its correct meaning. 

Most people mispronounce some of the words in the 
columns above, and very few can use them all correctly. 
Please study this lesson carefully. 

To the Teacher. — Accept nothing but thoughtful sentences. Those 
that are suggested by the children's experiences or reading are the best. 

LESSOR IV. 

Oral Exercise. 

To the Teacher. — The following questions are intended to be only 
suggestive. All oral exercises should be conversation exercises. 

BRICKS. 

1. Have you ever seen a brick-yard? 

2. Of what are bricks made? 

3. What is a brick-kiln? 

4. Why are not bricks that are baked in the sun as good 
as those baked in a kiln? 

5. What are some of the uses of bricks? 

6. What is the man called who builds houses of bricks? 

7. What is the shape of a brick, and how large are they 
usually made? 

8. Which do you think are better for the building of 
houses, bricks or stones? Why? 



30 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON V. 

Composition on Bricks. 

Write what you have learned about bricks^ making use 
of the questions in Lesson IV. as hints. 

Acid one paragraph which shall contain all that you 
have learned from the Bible about brick-making in the 
olden time. 

Read Lesson I. before writing, and be careful in deciding 
how many paragraphs you will have. 

LESSOR VI. 

Incomplete Sentences. 

First oral and then written. 

Fill each blank in the following sentences with one of 
these words: this, these, them, that, those. 

1. What is .... in your hand? 
2 is a knife. 

3. Are .... pencils that I see on your desk? 

4. Yes, I am sharpening 

5. Do you think .... knife is better than .... one? 

6. Certainly, and .... pencils are better than .... on your 
desk. 

7. Why are .... better than .... on ray desk? 

8 on your desk are not sharpened at all, while .... 

are all ready for use. 

9 will be sharpened as well as I shall sharpen 

.... with .... knife. 

10 knife and .... pencils will keep you busy for 

some time. 

Write ten sentences, using each of the words in the list 
above twice. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 31 

usssoisr vn. 

Reproduction. 

Read the following story carefully once or twice. Do 
not try to remember the sentences, but try to understand 
them. Then close your book and think how you could 
tell the story in your own words without using the word I. 

Add one paragraph of your own, telling what you think 
of the bird's act. 

TRUE STORY OF A FISH-HAWK. 

When I was a little girl I lived in Virginia, near the Potomac 
River. One sunny May morning my father said, "Come, Elinor, 
I want you to go with me." In a few minutes I was on my 
pony's back. We took the road by the river. The birds were 
singing merrily, and delicate wild-flowers timidly looked out 
into this great world. As we came near the woods, the air was 
filled with smoke, and we could see the flames creeping among 
the dead leaves on the ground. 

We stopped our horses. What strange cry was that we 
heard? It came from a bird above us, flying slowly round 
and round. What is the trouble? Ah! We can see a tall 
tree-trunk by the roadside. In the topmost branches is a nest, 
and around it the bird is flying. Her little brood are there. 
The flames are even now running up a dead vine that clings 
to the trunk. Some of the twigs of the nest are on fire. The 
bird stops her cries, flies swiftly to the nest, and pulls out the 
burning twigs with her beak. But she cannot pull them out 
fast enough. The little birds must burn. What Avill the mother- 
bird do? She quietly folds her wings over her little ones, and 
dies with them. 

To the Teacher. — The oral exercise should prove that the children 
have a clear conception of the story and of the sentences which they 
will use in telling it. They should be able to make a vivid word- 
picture of the scene, telling just how everything looked. 



32 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



IiESSOX VIII. 

Abbreviations and Initials. 

Some words are shortened in writing, — two or three 
letters only representing the whole word ; as, Col. for 
Colonel; Esq. for Esquire; Hon. for Honorable, and 
Rev. for Reverend. Col., Esq., Hon., and Rev. are called 
abbreviations. 

The first letter of a word is called the initial letter. 
When we speak of a person's initials, we mean the let- 
ters beginning the words in his name; thus, J. A. B. are 
the initials of James Addison Barrett. Such initials are 
abbreviations, and should be treated as such. 

Learn the following abbreviations and use them in sen- 
tences of your own. 



@, at. 

A. M. (Ante Meridiem)Before noon. 

Av., Avenue. 

Capt., Captain. 

Col., Colonel. 

cts., cents. 

doz., dozen. 

Esq., Esquire. 

etc. (Et ccetera), and so forth. 



Gen., General. 

M. (Meridian), Xoon. 

Mrs., Mistress. 

P. M. {Post Meridiem) Afternoon. 

P. M., Postmaster. 

P. O., Post-Office. 

P. S., Postscri]yt. 

Rev., Reverend. 

St., Street. 



To the Teacher. — After an oral recitation, pronounce the words as 
in a spelling-lesson, and require the proper abbreviations to be written 
by the pupils. 

LESSON IX. 

Study carefully the abbreviations, spelling, capitals, and 
punctuation of the following exercise. As a preparation, 
copy the abbreviations in Lesson VIII., and then write 
from memory the words for which they stand. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 33 



Dictation Exercise. 



1. Gen. U. S. Grant died July 23, 1885. 

2. The morning session of school begins at 9 o'clock 
a. m. and closes at 12 m. 

3. Col. James A. Dean was seen on Lincoln Av., at 2 
o'clock P. M. 

4. Capt. and Mrs. Barry are living at 312 Arlington St. 

5. Rev. H. W. Beecher died March 8, 1887. 

6. Samuel Weller added a P. S. to his letter, and then 
took it to the P. 0. 

7. 6 doz. eggs @ 12 cts. a doz. will cost 72 cts. 

8. A company of soldiers is commanded by a captain, a 
regiment by a colonel, and an army by a general. 

9. Benjamin Disraeli was_ created a peer for eminent 
services, with the title of Earl Beaconsfield. 

Oral Exercise. 

1. What titles are used in the dictation exercise in 
connection with the names of persons ? 

2. What titles are not so used ? 

3. What titles are abbreviated in the sentences which 
you have written ? 

4. What titles are not abbreviated ? 

5. What titles begin with capital letters? 

6. What titles do not begin with capital letters? 

7. Make a rule for the use of capitals in titles. 

8. What initials are used as abbreviations? Should 
such initials be capitals ? 

9. What mark should be placed after every abbreviation? 

10. What is a postscript? What is the abbreviation for 
" and so forth.'' 1 

11. What was the highest office held by Gen. U. S. Grant ? 
Note. —The sign @ is usually written without the period. 



34 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

IiESSON X. 
Sounds of Consonants. 

The consonants b, d, f, h, j, h, I, m, £>, g, r, £, v, w, y, z, 
are never marked in the dictionary, because they always 
stand for the same or (in the case of d as in chafed ) for 
nearly the same sounds. 

In cent the sound of c is soft, or like the sound of s. In 
can the sound of c is hard, or like the sound of Jc. The 
letter is marked thus : gent, ean. 

In gentle the sound of g is soft like the sound of j. In 
get the sound of g is hard. The letter is marked thus : 
gentle, get. 

In sun, the sound of s is sharp. When s stands for 
this sound it is not marked in the dictionary. 

In rising, s has the sound of z, and is said to be vocal, 
because the voice is heard in the sound. When it stands 
for this sound the s is marked thus : ri§ing. 

Oral Exercise. 

1. Give the sounds of the consonants that are never 
marked. 

2. In the following words is the sound of chard or soft? 

— cellar, caller, cinder, curve, ceiling, circle, cut, curl. 

3. How would you mark c in each word? 

4. In the following words is the sound of// hard or soft? 

— go, gave, general, genius, gander, German, great. 

5. How would you mark g in each word? 

6. In the following words, is the sound of % sharp or 
vocal? — this, his, sons, say, miss, sees, seem, misi r, h< rs, sinm rs. 

7. In which words would you mark the sf Which 
words have both the sharp and the vocal sound of st 

8. How would you mark the c, g, and 3 in the following 
words? — grass, gems, circle, crags, sense, singe, era*, nice. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



35 



LESSOR" XI. 

Story from a Picture. 

Oral one day and tvritten the next. 

Connect a story with the picture below, and arrange 
your composition in four paragraphs : 




Robins — season of year — where they have been all winter — 
they are glad to get back — where is the tree ? 

Building the nest — lining it — eggs — number and color. 

The baby birds — how they look — how long they live in the 
nest — how they are fed — how they are taught to fly. 

Why we should be kind to the birds — the pleasure they give 
— their happy and useful lives. 

To the Teacher. — One or two oral lessons, skillfully conducted, will 
prepare the pupils for the written composition. 



36 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

I/ESSOX XII. 

Common Nouns. Singular and Plural. 

In Chapter Two, Lesson I., we spoke of prcmer names, or 
proper nouns. There is another kind of name. The word 
dog may be applied to any dog in the world ; therefore we 
say it is a common name, or common noun. For the same 
reason such words as book and slate are common nouns. 

1. Select the common nouns from the following list, and 
tell why they are common : door, window, Mary, 'pencil, Ralph, 
stove, apple, Columbus, Webster, orange. 

Names that mean but one are said to be singular. 
Names that mean more than one are said to be plural. 
Door, window, and pencil are singular ; but doors, windows, 
and pencils are plural. 

2. Tell whether the following common nouns are sin- 
gular or plural, and why : man, horses, child, door*, ml tin*. 
children, boys, kite, knives, apple, girl, woman, foxes, oxen. 

3. Use the foregoing nouns in sentences. 

To the Teacher. — Select a lesson from the Reader, and require the 
pupils to tell whether the nouns are common or proper, singular or 
plural. 

LESSOX XIII. 

Learn to spell the following plural nouns: 

chimneys pianos babies journeys 

knives potatoes wives candies 

ponies valleys scissors ladies 

children oxen women glasses 

1. Try to use the singular of each noun in a sentence. 

2. Rewrite your sentences, using the plural noun 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 37 

instead of the singular, and making such other changes 
as are necessary. 

3. Is scissors ever used in the singular? Name another 
noun used only in the plural. 

LESSON XIV. 

Write the following story as though there were two 
squirrels instead of one, and use we instead of I: 

THE SQUIRREL. 

A little red squirrel lives in a tree near our home and we 
are getting to be quite good friends. When I first saw him, 
he was on a limb of the tree just over my head, and what a 
noise he did make ! I think he was trying to tell me to go 
away. 

I put two or three nuts on the ground near the tree, and he 
soon came and picked them up. You ought to have seen how 
funny he looked with two large nuts in his mouth. 

The next day I went and left some more nuts in the same 
place, and he came and picked them up while I was stand- 
ing near by. In a few days he would come and take the nuts 
from my hand, jump upon my shoulder, and then leap into the 
tree. 

Now when I go near his tree, I find him watching for me. 
He will run to meet me, jump into my arms, and look into all 
my pockets for something to eat. 

LESSON" XT. 
Oral and then written. 

1. Make a statement beginning with There is. One be- 
ginning with There are. 

2. Make the same statement without using the word 
there. 






38 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

3. Ask a question beginning with Are you. One begin- 
ning with Were you. 

4. Make a statement beginning with There was. One 
beginning with There were. 

5. Make the same statement without using there. 

6. Ask a question beginning with is there. One begin- 
ning with Are there. 

7. Make a statement beginning with You are. One be- 
ginning with You were. 

8. Ask a question beginning with Was there. One be- 
ginning with Were there. 

Note. — Teachers will find it necessary to review frequently such 
lessons as the one above. 

LESSOR XVI. 

Information Exercise. 

Study the following description of a spider until you can 
write it in your own words, without help from the book : 

THE SPIDER. 

Spiders are not insects. Most people think that a spider is 
an insect, but they are quite wrong. 

An insect looks as if its body were almost cut into three 
parts; and it always has six legs. Now the body of the 
spider is made up of two pieces joined together, and it has 
eight legs. 

Insects always go through a number of changes after they 
are hatched ; but the spiders have no such change. A young 
spider is of the same shape as an old one. 

All spiders spin webs, while no insect can spin a web of any 
kind. Wood's " Natural History Reader." 

These are some of the reasons why we say that spiders 
are not insects. Can you find out other reasons? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 39 

LESSON XVII. 

Conversation Exercise. 

To the Teacher. — Talk with the pupils about the Spider. Encour- 
age them to examine it themselves, and to gather such information as 
they can by their own efforts. The following suggestions may be of 
assistance. They will furnish material for several lessons, if wisely 
used. 

Suggestions. 

Not a true insect. Why ? Body divided into two parts. 
Number of legs. How it breathes. Insects go through what 
changes ? Webs, — how made. Different kinds of spiders, — 
wolf spiders, — hunting spiders, — mason spiders, — field spi- 
ders, — water spiders. How water spiders build their nests. 
How garden spiders spin their webs. How they catch their 
prey. 

Written Exercise. 

1. Name an insect. Into how many parts is its body 
divided? How many legs has it? How does it breathe? 
What changes does it go through during its life ? 

2. Into how many parts is the body of a spider divided? 
How many legs has it? How does a spider breathe? 
Does it spin a web? 

3. Then why is not the spider an insect ? 

4. What kinds of spiders have you studied? What is 
the most interesting spider that you have studied ? State 
some facts about this spider. 

LESSON XVIII. 
Composition. 

Write a composition on the " Spider," following the 
order of the "Suggestions" in Lesson XVII. , and dividing 
your composition into three paragraphs. 



40 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

. LESSOR XIX. 

Study and commit to memory the following poem : 

BOYS WANTED. 

1. Boys of spirit, boys of will, 

Boys of muscle, brain, and power, 
Fit to cope with anything, — 
These are wanted every hour. 

2. Not the weak and whining drones 

Who all troubles magnify, — 
Not the watchword of " I^can't," 
But the nobler one, "I'll try." 

3. Do whate'er you have to do, 

With a true and earnest zeal ; 
Bend your sinews to the task, — 
" Put your shoulder to the wheel." 

4. Though your duty may be hard, 

Look not on it as an ill ; 
If it be an honest task, 
Do it with an honest will. 

5. In the workshop, on the farm, 

Or wherever you may be, 
From your future efforts, boys. 
Conies a nation's destiny. 

L.ESSON XX. 

Oral Exercise on "Boys Wanted." 

1. Give a description of the boys, and tell what is 
meant. 

2. What does the third verse in the first stanza mean ? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 41 

3. " These are wanted every hour " where and by 
whom ? 

4. What is meant by " whining drones "? 

5. What is it to magnify troubles? What is the 
opposite ? 

6. What is a watchword ? 

7. May there be a difference between earnest zeal and 
true zeal? 

8. What are " your sinews "? 

9. "Put your shoulder" to what wheel? Why your 
shoulder ? 

10. Give your thought of the fourth stanza. 

11. Is the boy in the workshop as good as any other? 

12. Which would you prefer, to have nothing to do, or 
to earn your own bread ? 

13. What do the last two lines mean? Do you believe 
what they say? 

14. What nation is meant?' 

15. Do the boys spoken of in the poem mean the boys 
in this very school? 

16. Do you love your country? What is a patriot? 

17. Do you love to read about patriots? 

18. How can every boy make his country better and 
stronger ? 

19. Can you name one boy who will try to do it? 



42 language exercises. 

Chapter Four. 

LESSON I. 

The Apostrophe. 

We have already learned that words used as names 
are called nouns, and that nouns are sometimes singular 
and sometimes plural. 

A noun can be written so as to denote ownership; 
as, Mary's sponge cost ten cents. James's pony is of his 
uncle's farm. Here Mary owns the sponge, and James 
owns the pony. 

If the noun is singular, we add the apostrophe and 
the letter s as in the sentences above. 

If the noun is plural and does not end in s, it is 
made to denote ownership in the same way; as, The 
children's vacation ivill begin next Saturday. The men's 
clothing ivas ruined by the fire. 

If the noun is plural and ends in s, the apostrophe 
only is added ; as, The soldiers' uniforms are blue. The 
boys' hats were on the girls' heads. 

First oral and then written, 

1. In the foregoing sentences, in italics, what nouns are 
made to express ownership by adding an apostrophe and st 

2. What nouns are made to express ownership by add- 
ing the apostrophe only ? 

3. What plural nouns are made to express ownership in 
the same way as singular nouns? 

4. Use each of the following nouns in a sentence so as to 
denote ownership : man, men, dogs, horses, woman, women. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 43 

LESSON II. 
Dictation Exercise. 

WILLIE'S FIRST VISIT TO THE FARM. 

One pleasant evening in July, Willie arrived at his 
uncle's farm. He was tired out by a long day's journey, 
and soon went to bed. The next morning he fed Aunt 
Lizzie's hens and chickens. After dinner he drove his 
uncle's horse to the Post-office. On the way home he 
called at cousin George's store and bought some tea, 
coffee, and sugar. 

Answer in oral sentences. 

1. Select all the nouns in the dictation exercise. Which 
of them are plural ? 

2. Which nouns are begun with capitals ? Why ? 

3. Which nouns denote ownership ? Why is the apos- 
trophe placed before the s in each of these nouns? 

4. Select all the words of more than one syllable. 

5. What name is given to words of one syllable? 

6. What is meant by the word uncle ? aunt? cousin? 

LESSON III. 
For Oral Reproduction. 

THE GOOSE AND THE GOLDEN EGGS. 

A FABLE. 

1. Once on a time there was a man who had a goose he 
thought a great deal of. And well he might do so, for this 
was the strangest goose that ever lived. 

2. Every day she laid an egg. " There is nothing strange 



44 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

about that," you will say. Ah! but the eggs this goose laid 
were of solid gold. Think of that ! 

3. Day after day this strange bird laid a shining golden egg 
for her master. That was why he liked the goose so much. 
You may be sure he did not sell these eggs in the market. Not 
he : he hid them away carefully in a great iron box. 

4. Every day he found a bright new golden egg in the goose's 
nest, and added it to the pile. He w T as so glad to get it that he 
could hardly wait for the night to pass and the morning to 
come. Each day seemed as long as a week to him. 

5. When he saw the pile growing higher and higher in the 
iron box, he rubbed his hands with glee. "Ah!" said he to 
himself, "if it were only full, I should be the richest man in the 
world." 

6. He could think of nothing but his golden pile. At last he 
grew so greedy that he wanted all his gold at once. He thought 
he would find plenty of eggs in the goose's body, and not have 
to wait and wait and wait any longer. 

7. So one day he killed the wonderful bird. But when he 
came to look for more eggs, — why, there were none to be 
found ! 

Foolish man ! He had killed the goose that laid the golden 
eggs. 

To the Teacher. — The first lesson on this fable should be conversa- 
tion. The story should be told two or three times by the pupils, many 
of them taking part, Insist upon clear sentences and distinct utter- 
ance. The children should understand what a fable is, and for what 
purpose it is written. They should, of course, be able to deduce the 
lesson from it. 



LESSON IV. 

Composition. 

Write, in your own words, the story of " The Goose and 
the Golden Eggs." 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 45 

LESSOR V. 

The Apostrophe (Continued). 
First oral and then written, 

1. Use the following names in sentences: girl's^ girls'; 
boy's, boys' ; church's churches' ; man's men's; mouse's mice's; 
pony's, ponies'. 

2. Use each of the following names in a sentence in such 
a way as to require the addition of the apostrophe and the 
letter s; aunt, uncle, brother^ sister, cousin, Bessy, Mr. Davis. 

3. Complete the following sentences with names denot- 
ing ownership: 

Is that Mr house? No, it is Mrs 

This is .... knife bul thai one is 

Mr horse, Mr cows, and Mr sheep are in 

one pasture. 

LESSON VI. 

Dictation Exercise. 

Study the spelling and punctuation of the following 
5( ntencee : 

A teacher once Benl tour pupils, viz.. John, Fred, Mary, 
and Martha, to examine a large tree standing near the 
school-house. 

When they returned, each reported as follows : John 
told of the size of the tree, of its height, and of its spread- 
ing branches. Fred spoke of the roots, some of which he 
had seen a long distance from the foot of the tree. Mary 
described the branches, and drew upon the blackboard 
the shape of a leaf she had brought with her. Martha said 



46 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

that she had been specially interested in a bird's nest that 
she had discovered on one of the branches, and gave an 
interesting account of the birds she had seen carrying 
straws into the tree. 

LESSON VII. 

Conversation Exercise. 

1. Is there a large tree near your school-house? What 
kind of tree is it ? Has it spreading branches ? 

2. Have you ever seen any of its roots ? How far from 
the foot of the tree do you think they reach ? Why must 
such a tree have large and long roots ? 

3. What kind of bark on the tree? Are the lowest 
branches very near the ground ? Can you draw the shape 
of one of the leaves on the blackboard ? 

4. Have you ever seen a bird's nest in the tree? Where 
was the nest? Of what was it made? Did you see the 
birds building it? What kind of birds were they? 

To the Teacher. — These questions are only suggestions. They must 
be modified to suit different circumstances. Be sure that leaves and 
twigs are brought into the school-house, described, and drawn. 

LESSOR VIII. 

Composition. 

Write a composition about a large tree near your own 
school-house. Let it be a story in which you speak of a 
teacher who sent four of her pupils to examine the tree. 
Give the names of the pupils and tell what each one said 
after having visited the tree. How many paragraphs will 
you have in your composition ? Why ? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 47 

liESSOX IX. 

Review. 

First oral and then written. 

In the following sentences, use plural nouns instead 
of the nouns in italics, and make such other changes as 
are necessary : 

1. The bird carries straws in its mouth to build its nest. 

2. It builds its nest in a tall tree. 

3. There is a nest in a tree near our house. 

4. There is a blue egg in this nest. 

5. The egg has black spots on it. 

6. A little boy knows where the bird has its nest. 

7. Do you think this boy will harm the nest f Not he ! 

8. He watched the bird while it was building its nest. 

9. He likes to hear it sing its sweet song. 

10. The boy thinks a bird has as good a right to live and 
be happy as a boy has. 

11. He calls any boy who will harm a bird's nest a coward 
and a bully. 

LESSOK X. 
Pronounce the following words as marked: 

for bade' gen'tle man I de'a 

en'gine hal loo' in stead' 

drowned height i tal'ics 

drown'ing ho ri'zon noth'ing (o=u) 

^.fter studying the foregoing words, copy them upon 
your slate, then close your book and mark each word to 
denote its proper pronunciation. 

Use each word in an oral sentence. 

To the Teacher. — It will be profitable to review frequently the 
pronunciation of the foregoing and similar lists of words. 



48 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



IiESSOX XI. 
Story from a Picture, 




Suggestions* 

1. Name of boy — city — had been at school — after 
school. 

2. Appearance of street. 

3. Old lady — poor — bundle — hard work. 

4. What the boy did. 

5. Kindness to the poor — respect for age. 

LESSOR XII. 

Write a story about " A Noble Boy," following the sug- 
gestions given in Lesson XI. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 49 

LESSOR XIII. 

Homonyms. 

Words that have exactly the same sound but different 
spellings are called h6m'-o-nym§ as, air, heir ; tail, tale. 
Select the homonyms in the following sentences : 

1. There are some birds near their nest in that tree. 

2. Two dinners are too many for one day. 

3. The boys rode their ponies on the road to Boston. 

Copy the following words, and after each write its 
homonym : 

hear .... right .... bear .... 

no .... would .... blue .... 

nose .... not .... course .... 

meet . . . dear .... four .... 

Oral. 

1. Use in a sentence each of the words in the printed 
list. 

2, Show that you know the meaning of the words in 
your own list by using them in sentences. 

I/ESSOIS" XIV. 
Abbreviations. 



A. D., In the Year of our Lord. 

Amt., Amount. 

B.C., Before Christ. 

Co., Company. 

C. O. D., Collect on Delivery. 

Cr., Credit, Creditor. 



D. C, District of Columbia. 

Dr., Debtor. 

Gov., Governor. 

Pres., President. 

R. R., Railroad. 

U. S. A., United States of America. 



1. Copy the foregoing abbreviations, then close your 
book and write the proper word or words after each. 



50 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

2. Make a list of the words or phrases to be abbreviated, 
and then write the proper abbreviation after each. 

3. What is the meaning of each of these dates, 50 B. C, 
50 A. D. ? 

4. How many years from 50 A. D. to the present time? 

5. Explain how each of the other abbreviations might 
be used. 

LESSOR XT. 
Information Exercise. 

To the Teacher. — Before dictating any part of the information 
exercise below, give an observation exercise on the sponge. Require 
the pupils to examine a sponge very carefully, under your direction, 
and to make notes of their observations. 

THE SPONGE. 

A sponge when alive is a colony of animals. At first, an ob- 
ject appears like a small yellow egg swimming in the water. 
This contains the real eggs. It fastens itself to some bard sub- 
stance. Here the tiny animals increase in numbers until they 
look like a mass of jelly. The larger openings in the sides are 
inlets for food to the colony. 

Look at the sponge on your desk. The jelly is all gone. It 
is a skeleton of the mass. Observe the openings in the sides. 
These are canals to carry the food to all parts of the mass. 
Very tiny animals and plants in the water furnish the sponge 
with food. There are little canals to carry the food to all parts 
of the body. What it does not need, is thrown out of the large 
holes on top. Divers go down to the bed of the ocean to get 
sponges. The sponges are put into large tanks of shallow water. 
There they decay, the jelly falling off. The skeleton is left. 
This is washed and dried in the sun. The best sponges are 
found in the Mediterranean Sea. 

Note. — The information exercise on "The Sponge" should be 
divided into a number of dictation exercises for the pupils. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 51 

LESSON XVI. 

Sponges. 

Questions to be answered in complete sentences from the foregoing 

information lesson. 

1. What is the sponge ? 

2. What does a sponge look like in its earliest stages? 

3. Where does the sponge live ? 

4. To what does it fasten itself ? 
6. What is its food ? 

6. Where are its mouths ? 

7. Of what use are the large holes on top ? 

8. How do divers get sponges ? 

9. What is done to a sponge before we can use it? 

10. To what sea would you go to get the best sponges ? 

To the Teacher. — In this lesson require pupils to describe sponges 
which they have, and to give connected oral accounts of their growth. 

LESSON XVII. 
Composition. 

Write all that you have learned about the sponge. Re- 
member directions and cautions already given you in 
regard to writing. 

LESSON XVIII. 
Another Use for the Apostrophe. 

Sometimes a letter is omitted in writing a word, or two 
words are joined together with one or more letters omitted. 
The new words thus formed are called contractions ; as, 
o'er, don't. 

In contractions the apostrophe is used in place of 
omitted letters. 



52 LANGUAGE EX EXCISES. 

1. Copy the following contractions, and write after each 
the word or words in full : 



it's 


I'll 


had n't . . 


can 't . . . . 


won't .... 


I'm 


I've 


o'er .... 


would n't 


do n't .... 


did n't 


he 11 . . . 


does n't . . . . 




'twas . . 


we '11 


e'er .... 


ma'am . 



2. Name the letter or letters omitted in each contraction. 

3. What difference can } r ou see between contractions 
and abbreviations ? 

Note. — Contractions should be used sparingly, but correctly if used 
at all. 

liESSOX XIX. 

Study and commit to memory the following poem : 

THE THREE BELLS. 

1. Beneath the low-hung night-cloud 

That raked her splintering mast, 
The good ship settled slowly, 
The cruel leak gained fast. 

2. Over the awful ocean 

Her signal guns pealed out. 
Dear God! was that thy answer 
From the horror round about? 

3. A voice came down the wild wind, 

"Ho! ship ahoy!" its cry : 
"Our stout Three Bells of Glasgow 
Shall lay till daylight by." 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 53 

4. Hour after hour crept slowly, 

Yet on the heaving swells 
Tossed up and down the ship-lights, 
The lights of The Three Bells. 

5. And ship to ship made signals, 

Man answered back to man, 

While oft, to cheer and hearten, 

The Three Bells nearer ran ; 

6. And the captain, from her taffrail, 

Sent down his hopeful cry : 
" Take heart ! hold on ! " he shouted, 
"The Three Bells shall lay by!" 

7. All night, across the waters 

The tossing lights shone clear ; 
All night from reeling taffrail 
The Three Bells sent her cheer. 

8. And when the dreary watches 

Of storm and darkness passed, 
Just as the wreck lurched under, 
All souls were saved at last. 

9. Sail on, Three Bells, forever, 

In grateful memory sail ! 
Ring on, Three Bells of rescue, 
Above the wave and gale ! 

10. Type of the Love eternal, 
Repeat the Master's cry, 
As tossing through our darkness 
The lights of God draw nigh. 

John G. Whittier. 



54 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

IiESSON XX. 

Oral Exercise. 

1. How many ships are spoken of in the poem, "The 
Three Bells " ? Tell something about each of them. 
Describe the night. 

2. What are " signal guns " ? In the third verse of the 
second stanza, what does " that " refer to ? What does the 
question mean ? 

3. Whose voice "came down the wild wind"? What 
did it say? What is meant by "heaving swells"? Did 
you ever see any "ship-lights " ? What are they ? 

4. Give the meaning of the fifth stanza. Of the sixth. 
What is a "taffrail"? Why does the poet say "reeling 
taffrail " ? What is meant by " sent her cheer " ? 

5. What time is referred to in the eighth stanza ? What 
happened then ? What is meant by " lurched under " ? 

6. Why does the poet say " Sail on forever " ? Why 
does he say " Three Bells of rescue " ? What is meant by 
"type"? by "Love eternal"? Who is the "Master"? 
What does the last stanza mean ? 

To the Teacher. — Tell the children about Mr. Whittier, and at suit- 
able times read "Barefoot Boy," "Barbara Frietchie," and other 
poems that they can understand and enjoy. 

LESSON XXI. 

Composition. 

Write the story of " The Three Bells." 



language exebcises. 55 

Chapter Five. 

IiESSON I. 
Letter- Writing. 

A letter is a kind of composition, and it should 
always be carefully written. The form of a letter is 
of great importance, especially as regards the first 
and the last part of it. 

A letter is made up of four parts : the heading, the 
salutation, the body of the letter, and the conclusion. 
Another matter of great importance is the address on 
the envelope, or the superscription. 

Notice carefully the arrangement, the capital letters, 
and marks of punctuation in the following letter, and 
then copy it. 

HEADING. 

SALUTATION. 

BODY OF LETTER. 



56 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

C^/f-t4^ts£ C^/sf'iwM- 'mefww tz,f<f/%e d /azr&'n J 



CONCLUSION, 



(^CMs^ wwt'it-eZ' da-t^A/fet-, 




e^z^^te. 



LESSON II. 
Headings. 

The heading of a letter should indicate the place where, 
and the time when, the letter was written. When answer- 
ing a letter, a person looks to the heading to see how to 
direct his answer. 

In the letter in Lesson I., Watiham, Mass., tells where the 
letter was written, and Dec. 11, 1888, tells when it was 
written. If this letter had been written in a large city, 
the number and street should also have been given in the 
heading. 

Study carefully the arrangement, capitals, and punctu- 
ation of the following headings : 

Dictation Exercise. 




LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 57 



)<wi^&4tw&t/ y cx^^W^^ 




/^ /jyy. 



/4f Qfc&did^ CZfite., ^dz^z^, <zJ?// 

LESSON III. 
Oral Exercise. 

1. Of what should the heading of a letter consist ? 

2. What is the use of the heading ? 

3. What items should be contained in the heading of a 
letter which is written in a village? 

4. What additional items should be contained in the 
heading of a letter written in a large city ? Why ? 

5. Tell what marks of punctuation you would use in the 
heading. 

Written Exercise. 

Write the following headings, taking care to arrange and 
punctuate them correctly : 

1. New York, Auburn, Jan. 4, 1880. 

2. June 16, 1879, Mass., Boston, 47 Exeter St. 

3. Chicago, 111., Palmer House, 1875, April 14. 

4. Columbia, S. C, April 19, 1888, Laurel St., No. 84. 

5. What heading would you use, if writing a letter from 
your own home ? 



58 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

XiESSON IV. 

The Salutation. 

The salutation is the term of politeness, respect, or 
affection, with which we introduce a letter. 

In letters to dear friends the following salutations are 
used: 

My dear Mother. Dear Uncle. 

My dear Henry. Dear Miss Johnson, etc. 

Copy the following forms and notice carefully the 
position, capitals, and punctuation of the headings and 

salutations : 

Charleston, S. C, Aug. 8, 1888. 
My dear Mother, 

I am very glad to hear, etc. 

Englewood, III, April 15, 1888. 
Dear Uncle, 

My father has been very sick, etc. 

Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 12, 1888. 
Dear Miss Johnson, 

You must have heard, etc. 

In letters to strangers or to very slight acquaintances, 
the following forms of salutation are used: 

Mr. Robert James, Mrs. Addison Ray, 

Dear Sir, Dear Madam, 

Jerome Bates, Esq., Miss Emma James, 

Dear Sir, Dear Madam, 

The salutation should in general be followed by a 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 59 

comma as in the examples given ; or, if the letter begins 
on the same line, by a comma and a dash ; as, 

Rev. Thos. H. Wilson, 

Dear Sir, — I am pleased to learn, etc. 

To the Teacher. — Require these salutations to be copied and after- 
wards written from dictation. 

LESSON V. 

Oral Exercise. 

What would be the salutation, if you were writing a letter 
to your mother? father? brother? sister? a schoolmate? 
a friend? a gentleman whom you had met only once or 
twice? an unmarried lady who is an intimate friend? 
a married lady who is a slight acquaintance? 

Written Exercise. 

1. Write the heading and salutation of a letter to your 
mother, from Albany, March 7, 1880. 

2. To your brother, from Scranton, Pa., April 4, 1879. 

3. To a gentleman and near friend, from Chicago, 111., 
486 Wabash Avenue, Jan. 8, 1875. 

4. To your teacher, from your own home to-day. 

5. To a schoolmate, from Washington, D. C, 54 H St., 
Jan. 1, 1884. 

To the Teacher. — In an oral exercise to precede the written, require 
exact descriptions of capitals, punctuation, and position. 

LESSON VI. 

The Conclusion. 

The conclusion of a letter is that which is added after the 
body of the letter is finished. It consists of the compli- 
mentary close, and of the signature. 



60 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

The complimentary close, consisting of words of respect 
or affection, is written on the line below the body of the 
letter. If long, it may occupy two, or even more, lines. 

The signature is written on the line next below the com- 
plimentary close. 

Be careful that neither is crowded too far to the right- 
hand edge of the paper. 

Dictation Exercise. 

CONCLUSIONS. 



w£>£ -MWtw-ez ziiz4>ctz.i/%'£e' l 



(t/&44<4d ^ed/ie^yw^y^M 




s 



fy. Jl. C&Lut^&n.. 



■&-tsl4(J 










LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 61 

IjESSCXN" VII. 
Oral Review. 

1. What does the conclusion of a letter include? 

2. What is meant by the complimentary close? by the 
signature f by the salutation? 

3. What would be a proper complimentary close of a 
letter to your father ? mother ? brother ? sister ? friend ? 

4. Where should the signature be written? the saluta- 
tion ? 

5. What items should appear in the heading of a letter? 

6. How should the heading be punctuated? 

7. What is the difference between the heading of a letter 
written in a village and one written in a city ? 

8. Describe the salutation and the conclusion of a letter 
written to your father, giving capitals and punctuation. 

9. Describe the exact position of the different parts of 
the heading, the address, and the conclusion. 

To the Teacher. — The forms of letters cannot be too carefully im- 
pressed. In addition to the foregoing, call for a similar arrangement 
of many different headings, addresses, and conclusions, being careful 
that they occupy the same relative positions. 

LESSOR VIII. 
A Letter. 

Write a letter of three paragraphs to your teacher about 
the events of yesterday. Show that you can write a correct 
heading, salutation, and conclusion. 

IjESSOX IX. 
The Envelope. 

Turn to Lesson I., and you will find a letter from Jennie 
to her mother. Before this letter is posted, it must be 



62 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



folded and placed in an envelope, which should be prop- 
erly directed. We will suppose that Jennie's father is 
living in Greytown, Pa., and that his name is Philip C. 
Murray. She would direct the letter as follows : — 




4d. 




i^t 



^itZ^f; 




-l€-4f4C'lWl / 



If Mrs. Murray's residence were in a large city like 
Philadelphia, the street and number should be added to 
the address on the envelope, as follows : — 









fff 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 63 

The width of an envelope is usually a very little more 
than one half the length. 

"Written Exercise. 

Draw five rectangles representing five envelopes. Di- 
rect them to the following persons : 

1. To your teacher at her own home. 

2. To your father or mother. 

3. To Mrs. Jas. R. Munroe, who resides at 47 High St., 
Providence, R. I. 

4. To Mr. C. R. Stetson, who is a clergyman living in 
Bloomington, 111. 

5. To George E. Davis, at 1896 Lake St., Chicago, 111. 

LESSOR X. 
A Letter. 

John Harrison, of San Francisco, writes to his friend 
Walter Manning, of Chicago, March 1, 1887. 

The following is an analysis of his letter. Make as 
many paragraphs as there are topics. 

Analysis. 

1. The weather for the past month. 2, His father has been 
very sick. 3. He has a small garden of his own, — tells what he 
has planted. 4. He asks Walter to visit him, and describes the 
route. 

Write the letter in fall. Draw and direct the envelope. 

To the Teacher. — In this grade, a conversation lesson upon the 
letter-topics should always precede an exercise in letter-writing, and 
should include a careful consideration of the forms and punctuation 
of headings, salutations, and conclusions. 



64 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



WESSON XI. 
Story from a Picture. 

ONE CHRISTMAS. 




Suggestions. 

1. The names of the children and their home. 

2. Christmas-time in their home. 

3. People to whom Christmas hrings little happiness. 

4. How the children came to think of others. 

5. Their visit, what they found, and what they did. 

6. Why we should remember the poor, especially at 
Christmas-time. 

To the Teacher. — A well-directed conversation lesson should pre- 
cede any attempt at writing from a picture. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 65 

WESSON XII. 

Homonyms. 

Copy the following words, and place after each another 
word having exactly the same sound but different spell- 
ing. 

great .... pane .... threw .... 

flour .... rode .... whole .... 

pair .... sail .... stairs .... 

pale .... steal .... tail .... 

Oral Exercise. 

1. Use in a sentence each word of the foregoing list. 

2. Use in a sentence each word that you have supplied. 

3. Review the lesson on homonyms in Chapter Four. 

LESSON XIII. 

Information Exercise. 

To the Teacher. — Pieces of coral should be brought into the class 
and examined. Pupils should be encouraged to gather information 
from every available source. 

CORAI.. 

Coral is made by an animal called a polyp. Its home is 
chiefly in the warm, clear waters of the sea. In form it is like 
a flower. The body is the stem, and at the top is a disk with 
feathery feelers round it. At the middle of the disk is the 
mouth, and below this is a cavity which serves for a stomach. 
With these feelers round the top, the polyp can catch any small 
living thing that comes near ; for these organs can grasp and 
paralyze the prey, and so pass it to the mouth to be swallowed. 
On the side of the stem or body of the polyp a bud will start. 
This will grow to a polyp and will retain its place united to the 
parent. From the new animal another bud will start and grow 



66 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

to a polyp, and so on until a coral branch or tree is formed. 
Should one of these animals lose a part of itself by injury, it 
will restore the lost part by a new growth. The coral which is 
brought to us shows the exact form of the inside of the stems, 
or body, of the polyp, hence it is often called the skeleton of the 
animal. Though usually very small, these animals make vast 
deposits; for the southern extremity of the peninsula of Florida 
rests upon coral. 

Topics for Study. 

Parts of the coral animal, — where it is found, — kind 
of water, — food, — how caught. " The builder," — why so 
called. — Land that rests upon coral. — Different kinds of 
coral, — the most beautiful, — where found. — Uses of coral. 

IiESSON XIV. 
Composition. 

Write all that you have learned about the coral. Make 
any use you please of the topics in Lesson XIII. 

X/ESSON XV. 
Oral Exercise. 

To the Teacher. — The pupils are supposed to have gained all neces- 
sary information from some previous exercise. An actual visit to a 
blacksmith's shop would be the best possible preparation for the 
lesson. Require the pupils to tell orally all that they know about 
each of the following topics. 

THE CLACK SMITH. 

1. Introduction. 

(1) Different kinds of smiths. 

(2) Business of the blacksmith. 

2. Materials used. 5. Forge and bellows. 

3. Names of the tools. 6. The anvil. 

4. Uses of the tools. 7. Kinds of work done. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 67 

LESSOX XVI. 
Composition. 

Write upon each topic in Lesson XV., dividing your 
work into seven paragraphs. 

LESSOR XVII. 

Oral Exercise. 

Pronounce the following words according to the mark- 
ing: 

laugh'ter prob'a bly shrieked 

lei'sure re'al ly sifting 

nests reg'u. lar sixth, 

piet'ure ri dlc'u lous stamped 

1, In the first word what sound has gh ? 

2, Give the vowel sound in each accented syllable. 

3. Give the vowel sound in each monosyllable. 

4, Give all the vowel sounds in the polysyllable. 

5. Pronounce the two shortest words very distinctly. 

6. Show that you know the meaning of each word by 
using it in a sentence. 

LESSOR XVIII. 

A Letter. 

Suppose a letter to have been written by Walter Man- 
ning, of Chicago, 111., in reply to John Harrison, of San 
Francisco, Cal. It was dated June 1, 1887. 

Stiggestions. 

Walter is glad to hear from John. Health of himself and 
family. Has a nice boat, — describes it. Sailing party on the 
Lake, — no accident except the loss of one or two hats. Would 
be pleased to visit John, — gives reason why he cannot do so 
this summer. 

Write the letter in full. Draw and direct the envelope. 



68 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON XIX. 

Reproduction. 

Read the following incident once or twice carefully, and 
write the thoughts in your own words without referring to 
the book. Divide your story into three paragraphs. 

Learn the saying of Horace Mann, and write it word for 
word at the end of your story. Be sure that you know 
exactly what the saying means and never forget it. 

THE FORCE OF HABIT. 

There was once a horse that used to pull around a sweep 
which lifted dirt from the depths of the earth. He was kept 
at the business for nearly twenty years, until he became old, 
blind, and too stiff in the joints for further use. So he was 
turned into a pasture, or left to crop the grass without any one 
to disturb or bother him. 

The funny thing about the old horse was that every morning, 
after grazing awhile, he would start on a tramp, going round 
and round in a circle, just as he had been accustomed to do for 
so many years. He would keep it up for hours, and people 
often stopped to look and wonder what had got into the head 
of the venerable animal to make him walk around in such a 
solemn way when there was no earthly need of it. It was the 
force of habit. 

The boy who forms bad or good habits in his youth will be 
led by them when he becomes old, and will he miserable or 
happy accordingly. — Selected. 

Habit is a cable, — we weave a thread of it each day, and at 
last we cannot break it. — Horace Mann. 

To the Teacher. — The "Stories for Reproduction" in this book arc 
given merely as suggestions as to the kind to be chosen, and the vutu- 
ner of treatment. Let the story be read by the pupils once or twice, 
and then be made the subject of conversation. An oral reproduc- 
tion should usually follow the conversation exercise and precede tin- 
written work. 






LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 69 

UESSOX XX. 

Study and commit to memory the following poem : 

THE FIRST SNOW-FALL. 

1. The snow had begun in the gloaming, 

And busily all the night 
Had been heaping field and highway 
With a silence deep and white. 

2. Every pine and fir and hemlock 

Wore ermine too dear for an earl, 

And the poorest twig on the elm-tree 

Was ridged inch deep with pearl. 

• ■ • • • • 

3. I stood and watched by the window 

The noiseless work of the sky, 
And the sudden flurries of snow-birds, 
Like brown leaves whirling by. 

4. I thought of a mound in sweet Auburn 

Where a little headstone stood; 
How the flakes were folding it gently, 
As did robins the babes in the wood. 

5. Up spoke our own little Mabel, 

Saying, " Father, who makes it snow?" 
And I told of the good All-Father 
Who cares for us here below. 

6. Then, with eyes that saw not, I kissed her; 

And she, kissing back, could not know 
That my kiss was given to her sister, 
Folded close under deepening snow. 

James Kussell LowelLc 



70 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

I/ESSON XXI. 

Oral Exercise. 

1. At what time in the day did it begin to snow ? How 
do you know ? At what time was Mr. Lowell speaking ? 
How did he know that the snow had been busy all the 
night ? What is the meaning of the last verse in the first 
stanza ? 

2. What is ermine? What is its color? Why should 
it be costly? What is an earl? What is the meaning 
of the last verse in the second stanza ? Describe the 
picture that this stanza brings to your mind. 

3. What two things was the poet watching from his 
window? What was he thinking about? Where is 
"Sweet Auburn"? Tell the story of "The Babes in the 
Wood." 

4. Who was watching the snow with the poet ? What 
is meant by "All-Father"? By "eyes that saw not"? 
Tell the meaning of the sixth stanza. 

IiESSO^ XXII. 

"Written Exercise. 
1. Write in your own words the meaning of the poem. 

To the Teacher. — From time to time read with the children, and 
talk about any or all of the poems here named: — "The Heritage," 
"The Courtin\" "Aladdin," "The Singing Leaves," "The Finding 
of the Lyre," "Without and Within," "The Beggar," "The Change- 
ling." See page 223. 

It may be necessary to assign some of these poems to a higher 
grade. 



PART II. 



TO TEACHERS. 



The value of committing to memory choice selections 
of prose or poetry as a means of language-training can 
hardly be over-estimated. It would be difficult to find 
a single individual, noted as a writer or speaker, whose 
success cannot be traced directly to the habit, acquired 
when young, of memorizing favorite extracts from the 
writings of famous authors. 

The best talkers are likely to be those who associate 
with the best talkers; the best writers those who arc 
most familiar with the best literature. The great poets 
know the poems of other great poets by heart; thought- 
ful men are always studying the writings of thoughtful 
men. 

John Bright could repeat from memory whole j)oems 
of favorite authors, and his wonderful power over the 
English language could, without doubt, be traced to his 
familiarity with the best writers and speakers of his own 
time. 

A study of the lives of the great scholars of America 
would reveal the fact that much of their success in the 
use of the English language has come from the habit of 
committing to memory whatever seemed to them worthy 
of their time and study. 

Teachers can do no better service for their jmpils than 
to make the study of choice selections from the writings 
of our best authors a prominent part of the language- 
training of the school. 
72 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 73 



Chapter Six. 

LESSON I. 
Quotations. 

In speaking or writing, we frequently wish to tell 
what another person has said : as, Yesterday, Joseph 
Williams told me that he was too young to enter the 
High School. In this case we simply express in our 
own words what Joseph Williams said. Such expres- 
sions are called indirect quotations. 

An indirect quotation is the thought of another ex- 
pressed in our own ivords. 

It often happens that we wish to express the thought 
of another in his own words : as, Yesterday, I heard 
Joseph Williams say, " I am too young to enter the 
High School." Such expressions are called direct 
quotations, and, in writing, are enclosed by quotation 
marks (" ")■ 

Titles of books, pictures, poems, or newspapers, 
assumed names of writers, etc., are usually written with 
quotation marks: as, "Our Old Home"; the "Sistine 
Madonna " ; " Gray's Elegy " ; the " New York Her- 
ald"; "Oliver Optic" (William T. Adams). 

A direct quotation is the thought of another expressed in 
his own words. 



74 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

A comma usually precedes a direct quotation that does 
not stand at the beginning of a sentence. Punctuation 
marks that belong to a quotation must stand within the 
quotation marks. 

To the Teacher. — Read Lesson I. with the pupils, and then question 
them carefully as to its meaning. This lesson should be thoroughly 
understood before Lesson II. is undertaken. 

LESSOR II. 
Dictation Exercise. 

1. Pope says, " Virtue alone is happiness below." 

2. Our teacher told me that the leaves and flowers would 
soon be out. 

3. " Can't you contrive to be present at our exhibition? " 
said Lucy. 

4. The Bible says that we should honor our fathers and 
our mothers. 

5. A well-known voice echoed from the silent mound, 
" Hurrah ! let them come on to Breed's ; the people will 
teach 'em the law." 

Oral. 

1. Give a reason for each use of the apostrophe in the 
dictation exercise. 

2. Give reasons for the use of the quotation marks. 

3. Which sentences contain indirect quotations ? 

4. Read the direct quotations. 

5. Change the second indirect quotation to a direct 
quotation. 

6. Change the first direct quotation to an indirect quota- 
tion. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 75 

LESSON III. 

Sentence-making. 

1. Write five sentences, each containing a direct quota- 
tion. 

2. Re-write the sentences, changing the direct quota- 
tions to indirect. 

Model. 

Direct quotation. — John replied, " I do not intend to return." 
Indirect quotation. — John replied that he did not intend to 
return. 

1. Write or select five sentences, using the apostrophe to 
show possession. 

2. Write or select five sentences, using the apostrophe in 
contractions. 

iiEssoisr iv. 

A Fable. 

A Hare once made fun of a Tortoise. " What a slow way you 
have ! " he said. " How you creep along ! " 

"Do I? " said the Tortoise. " Try a race with me, and I will 
beat }^ou." 

" You only say that for fun," said the Hare. " But come ! I 
will race with you. Who will mark off the bounds and give 
the prize?" 

" Let us ask the Fox," said the Tortoise. 

The Fox was very wise and fair ; so he showed them where 
they were to start, and how far they were to run. 

The Tortoise lost no time. She started at once, and jogged 
straight on. The Hare knew he could come to the end in two 
or three jumps, so he lay down and took a nap first. By and by 
he awoke, and then ran fast ; but when he came to the end, the 
Tortoise was already there. 

Slow and steady wins the race. 



76 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

Oral. 

1. Are the quotations in this fable direct or indirect ? 

2. Read the quotations only. 

3. Try to tell the story in your own words, using no 
direct quotations. 

4. What is a fable? What does this one teach ? 

5. Why should the Hare and the Tortoise be selected to 
illustrate this fable? 

Written. 

Write the story of the " Hare and the Tortoise " in your 
own words, and tell what you think it means. 

[LESSOR V. 

Verb-forms. 

The word break suggests breaks, breaking, broke, broken. 

The word bite suggests bites, biting, bit, bitten. 

The word eat suggests eats, eating, ate, eaten. 

The word drive suggests drives, driving, drove, driven. 

The first three words of each set are used correctly by 
almost everybody. The last two words of each set cause 
many errors. The trouble arises from using one for the 
other. 

The fifth word in each set is commonly used after one of 
the following words: — have, has, had, having, be, is, am, are, 
was, were, being, been. 

The fourth word in each set should never be used after 
one of those words. 

l. Construct sentences to show that you can use the last 
two words of the four sets above correctly. 

To the Teacher. —Con fine the drill to the parts of t lie verb that 
cause errors. Review the lesson frequently. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 11 

LiESSON VI. 
Information Exercise. 






WORKER-BEE. QUEEK-BEE. DRONE. 

THE HONEY BEE. 

There are three kinds of bees in every hive, — females or 
queens, males, and workers. The males, which are often called 
drones, do not work. The workers make the wax, with which 
they build the cells, collect the honey, and feed and protect 
the young. The males have no stings. Only one full-grown 
female lives in a hive, and she is called the queen. After she 
has laid eggs in the cells prepared for them, the workers supply 
these cells with the pollen of flowers. This is mixed with honey 
and water, and forms the food of the little white worms that 
hatch from the eggs. These little worms change into workers, 
males, or queens. Some of the worms are fed with a richer 
food than is given to the others, and these become queens. 
Five daj^s after they are hatched they spin cocoons, and in six- 
teen days more come out perfect queen-bees. The workers and 
males have a slower growth. 

To the Teacher. — Language exercises based on elementary science 
lessons presuppose careful observation work on the part of the pupils. 
It is no part of the work of this book to give elementary science les- 
sons, but rather to suggest how exercises in language may be made 
from information gained from a science lesson. 

Topics for Study. 
Different kinds of bees, — queen -bees, — drones, — workers. 
Hives, — honeycomb, — wax, — cells, — eggs, — cocoons. Bee- 
hunting, — gathering honey. 
To the Teacher. — Read to the class, " Bees," by John Burroughs. 



78 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON VII. 
Words and their Opposites. 

1. Write the opposites of the following words: — before, 
left, large, fast, long, rough, sweet, brittle. 

2. Write eight sentences, each of which shall contain one 
of the words above, and its opposite. 

Abbreviations. 

The following are the abbreviations of names of days 
and months. Learn them, and write the words for which 
they stand. Be careful about the name of the middle day 
of the week and of the shortest month. 



Sun. 


Thurs. 


Feb. 


Sept. 


Mon. 


Fri. 


Mar. 


Oct. 


Tues. 


Sat. 


Apr. 


Nov. 


Wed. 


Jan. 


Aug. 


Dec. 



May, June, and July should never be abbreviated. 

IjESSON" VIII. 

Synonyms. 

Synonyms are words which have the same or similar 
meanings: as, droll, comical; forgive, pardon. 

In the following sentence, the word own may be used 
instead of possess and the meaning will be the same: 
I should like to possess a horse and carriage. The words 
possess and own are synonyms. 

From the following list, select a synonym for each word 
in the columns below: — port, gift, share, pursue, empty, hide, 
house, brave, crack, careless, fright, polite. Example : gift, 
present; port, harbor, etc. 

courteous present vacant conceal 

harbor follow heedless alarm 

portion fearless fracture residence 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 79 

Construct five sentences which shall contain five of the 
words in the first list, used correctly. 

Substitute for the words taken from the first list the 
synonyms taken from the second. 

Which of the words do you prefer to use in your sen- 
tences ? 

Which synonyms seem to have the same meaning ? 

Example. 

1. The teacher made me a gift of a beautiful book. 

2. The teacher made me a present of a beautiful book. 

To the Teacher. — The object of this exercise is to teach pupils that 
while synonyms have similar meanings, the meanings' are not always 
the same. 

IiESSON" IX. 

A Letter. 

FRED TO HIS AUNT MARY. 

Cold weather .... a severe snow-storm .... streets 
blocked .... no school. Made a snow man last week 
.... tells how .... size .... eyes .... nose .... mouth 
.... arms .... Warm weather came on .... snow man 
disappeared. 

Write Fred's letter in full. 

Exercise. 

1. When and where is your letter dated? 

2. What is the " address " ? 

3. What mark of punctuation follows the " address " ? 

4. What capital letters are used in the letter because 
they begin proper names ? 

5. What capital letters are used because they begin sen- 
tences ? 



80 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

6. What is the conclusion of your letter? 

7. What marks of punctuation besides periods have 
you used in your letter? Why? 

LESSON" X. 

Homonyms. 

Write after each of the following words its homonym : 

not .... eight .... hare .... 



there .... 


brake . . . 


lane 


week .... 


lief ... 


grown 


too .... 


knead . . . 


heel 



1. Use in sentences the words in the printed list. 

2. Use in sentences the homonyms that you have sup- 
plied. 

I/ESSOX XI. 

Dictation Exercise. 

1. " Maud Muller " is the name of a poem written by 
John G. Whittier. 

2. Do you know who wrote " The Old Clock on the 
Stairs "? " 

3. Dr. 0. W. Holmes wrote " The Autocrat of the Break- 
fast Table." 

4. Jennie took, as the title of her composition, "One 
Christmas." " How we spent Vacation " would be an 
easy subject to write about. 

5. Behind the cloud the starlight lurks, 

Through showers the sunbeams fall; 

For God, who loveth all his works, 

Has left his hope with all. 

John G. Whittier. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



81 



^ESSOIN" XII. 

A Picture-Study. 
First oral and then written. 




.jvirf **? 



v i* - 



Suggestions. 

1, Describe the picture, — that is, tell exactly what you 
see in it. 

2, Describe the inside of the house as you imagine it, 
and the family of which you see a part. 

3, Give a history of the family or a story suggested by 
the picture. 

To the Teacher. — Any or all of the foregoing suggestions may be 
followed. Give time for the preparatory exercises, even if they occupy 
two or three lessons. 



82 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

IiESSON" XIII. 

1. Pronounce the following words according to the 
marking : 

kept sev'en tas'sel 

laun'dry swept tow'ard 

par tlc'u lar slept ti'ny 

sup pose' dang'ing toss'ing 

2. Show clearly the meaning of each word by using it 
in a sentence. 

3. Review all the exercises in pronunciation that pre- 
cede this one. 

WESSON XIV. 
A Letter. 

AUNT MARY TO FRED. 

Was glad to receive a letter from him .... surprised 
to find that he could write so well .... thinks he must 
be a big boy and a good scholar. Tells him of a great 
snow-storm some years ago .... was obliged to walk two 
miles through the snow .... thinks she looked like a 
snow woman. She is glad that Fred is enjoying the 
winter. 

Write Aunt Mary's letter in full. 

I/ESSON XV. 

Words often Misused. 
Real for very. 

Real and very have meanings quite unlike. The follow- 
ing sentence shows the correct use of the words : 

Mrs. Sharp wears a real diamond, and she is very proud 
of it. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 83 

Of course, if real may be used for very, then very may be 
used for real, and we shall have very diamonds and real 
proud, both of which are wrong. 

Do n't for does n't. 

Write, in sentences, the words for which these con- 
tractions stand, beginning as follows: 

You do not .... Charles does not .... I do not .... 
He does .... The boys .... The boy .... etc. 

Substitute the contractions in your sentences, and you 
will see their proper use. 

Guess for think. 

The following sentences show the correct use of guess 
and think: 

If your hand is closed I may guess what is in it, or if 
I am blindfolded I may guess who touched me. If the 
clouds look dark I think it will rain, or it is so cold that I 
think there will be frost to-night. 

Complete the following sentences : 

.... what is in my pocket. Shall I be late at school? I . . . . 
you will, as it is almost nine. How tall am I ? I . . . . you are 
four feet ten inches. 

Save got for have or has. 

Have got means have obtained. Have when used alone 
means own or have in possession. 

We need to use have got or has got very rarely. We use 
have and has frequently. 

To the Teacher. — Call for much practice in the correct use of the 
foregoing words, and frequently review them. 



84 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON XVI. 

Reproduction. 

To the Teacher. — Read carefully to the pupils Whittier's poem, 
'Barbara Frietchie." Encourage conversation about the poem, and 
explain what is necessary to a fair understanding of it. Then have tin- 
story written as a composition. Be sure that the poem and the poet 
are associated. 

LESSOR XVII. 

Two or more statements may be combined into one 
sentence, as follows: 

Model. 

1. Jessie Brown found a diamond ring. 
She was on her way to school. 

The ring had been dropped into the mud. 

Combined. 

On her way to school, Jessie Brown found a diamond ring 
which had been dropped into the mud. 

Combine each of the following groups of sentences into 
one: 

2. Baby Maud has fully recovered her health. 
She has been very sick. 

3. Our school-house has been rebuilt. 
It was burned down. 

It is on the same site. 

4. The birds will return in the Spring. 
They go south every Autumn. 

5. Boston is the largest city in New England. 
It is the capital of Massachusetts. 

It is the metropolis of Massachusetts. 

6. President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth. 
He was in a theater at Washington. 

He died the next day. 

Write two sentences, similar to those above, that may be 
combined into one. 

Write three sentences that may be combined into one. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 85 

WESSON XVIII. 
Information Exercise. 

THE HONEY-BEE (Continued). 

When the little queens are full-grown, the old queen tries to 
kill them, for she is jealous and wants to reign alone. Either 
they must be destroyed or she must leave the hive with a part 
of the bees, to make another home. But the workers keep 
watch, and do not let her come near the young queens until 
they are sure she doesn't mean to leave the hive. In that 
case, she is allowed to sting and kill all the young females, 
or queens. If, however, she flies off, followed by many of the 
bees, a young queen is set free. This queen usually departs 
with another swarm, as it is called, and the next one will do 
the same if the hive is still too large. 

When a young queen refuses to leave the hive, she fights with 
the remaining queens, and the one that comes off victorious 
becomes queen and sole mistress of the hive. 

Conversation Exercise. 

1. Is the queen-bee a good mother ? 

2. Which bees may be called protectors ? Why ? 

3. What is meant by swarming ? 

4. What happens when the old queen leaves the hive ? 
0. Who finally becomes queen of the old hive? 

LESSOR XIX, 
Composition. 

Review very carefully Lessons VI. and XVIII. and write 
what you have learned about the honey-bee. First, make 
your notes, and determine the number of paragraphs in 
your composition. 

Any information you have gained from observation or 
from other books should be used to make your account 
of the honey-bee more complete. 



86 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

I/ESSCXN" XX. 

Study and commit to memory the following poem 

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR. 

1. Between the dark and the daylight, 

When the night is beginning to lower, 

Comes a pause in the day's occupations, 

That is known as the Children's Hour. 

2. I hear in the chamber above me 

The patter of little feet, 
The sound of a door that is opened, 
And voices soft and sweet. 

3. From my study I see in the lamp-light, 

Descending the broad hall stair, 
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra, 
And Edith with golden hair. 

4. A whisper, and then a silence: 

Yet I know by their merry eyes 
They are plotting and planning together 
To take me by surprise. 

5. A sudden rush from the stairway, 

A sudden raid from the hall ! 
By three doors left unguarded 
They enter my castle wall ! 

6. They climb up into my turret 

O'er the arms and back of my chair; 
If I try to escape, they surround me; 
They seem to be everywhere. 

7. They almost devour me with kisses, 

Their arms about me entwine, 
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen 
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine ! 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 87 

8. Do you think, blue-eyed banditti, 

Because you have scaled the wall, 
Such an old mustache as I am 
Is not a match for you all! 

9. I have you fast in my fortress, 

And will not let you depart, 
But put you down into the dungeon 
In the round-tower of my heart. 

10. And there will I keep you forever, 
Yes, forever and a day, 
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin, 
And molder in dust away! 

Henry W. Longfellow. 

LESSOR XXI. 

Analysis of Poem. 

To the Teacher. — Question the children closely as to the meaning of 
the poem. Lead them to see a picture of Longfellow's home life. 
Speak of his love for children, the proof of which is in the poems 
which he has written for them and about them. 



I/ESSON XXII. 

Composition. 

Write a description of a twilight scene in Mr. Long- 
fellow's home, as you can imagine it from studying " The 
Children's Hour." Try to picture the house, and suppose 
Mr. Longfellow to have been writing some poem which 
you have read. 

To the Teacher. — At different times read with your pupils, and 
talk with them about any or all of the following poems: "Paul 
Revere's Ride," "Wreck of the Hesperus," "Village Blacksmith," 
"Old Clock on the Stairs," "My Lost Youth," "The Cumberland," 
"Reaper and Flowers," " Sandalphon," "Weariness." See page 223. 



88 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



Chapter Seven. 



LESSOR I. 

Conversation Exercise. 




COLD COUNTRIES. 

1. Describe the foregoing picture, telling about every 
kind of object represented. 

2. Find out all you can from your Geography and other 
books about the coldest countries, their direction from us, 
the kind of people and the animals that live there, how the 
people live, their houses, food, and occupations. 

To the Teacher. — Teachers will find in geography an abundance of 
material for language lessons. The exercises in this and succeeding 
chapters are very simple, but they furnish opportunities for pupils to 
use language intelligently in connection with Bubjects made familiar 
through their daily school lessons. Teachers can easily multiply such 
exercises, and adjust the difficulties to the ability of the class. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 89 

LESSON II. 
Conversation Exercise. 

COL.D COUNTRIES (Continued). 

1. Describe the interior of one of the houses, as you 
imagine it in the evening. 

2. Tell about the seasons in these countries, and about 
day and night. 

3. What have you read of explorers who have found out 
about cold countries ? 

LESSON III. 
Composition. 

Arrange topics, and write about cold countries. 

LESSON IV. 
Sounds of Letters. 

The sounds of the vowels in the words sir, her, fur, are 
exactly alike. They are marked thus : — i, e, u. 

Place a mark over each vowel in these words : — thirsty, 
burning, prefer, urgent, term, third. 

In the following words, how many different sounds do 
you find for thf — thee, thin, thus, thick, with, breath, smooth, 
broth. In which words is the sound of th vocal ? 

When th has a vocal sound it is marked thus : — th.. 
Otherwise it is not marked. In which of the foregoing 
words should th be marked to indicate the pronunciation ? 

Review. 

In the following words, indicate the pronunciation by 
marking the letters in italics : — call, wren, cell, safe, miss, 



90 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

mark, this, rise, rove, cwre, give, trap, oem, ask, scene, fife, 
bulb, stop, roof, curve, foot, move, fruit, wolf, stir, term. 

LESSON V. 

Pronounce the words below according to the marking : 

asked elotiies. eran' ber ry 

at tacked' ereek eour' te ous 

a' ny bod y (a=e) drain sur pri§e' 

ea meT o pard draught (gh=f) ge 6g' ra phy 

1. Copy the words, and mark them for pronunciation 
without the aid of the book. 

2. Use each word in a sentence. 

3. Pronounce the words in all similar preceding lessons. 

LESSOR VI. 

Information Exercise. 
THE ANT. 

The ant is a very industrious little insect, and a very 
skillful workman. There are many different kinds of 
ants. Some of them make their homes above ground, of 
grass, wheat-stalks, sand, etc., and others burrow in wood 
or clay, making galleries and chambers. 

Among ants there are males, females, and workers, just 
as among bees. The males and females have wings for 
a short time. The workers take good care of the eggs, 
and carry them from one chamber to another, according 
to the amount of heat desired. 

When the little white grubs are hatched, they are as 
helpless as the bee-grubs, and have to be fed and taken 
care of until old enough to spin cocoons. At the proper 






LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 91 

time, the workers cut open these cocoons with their jaws 
and let the little ants out. 

Some species of ants have a strange way of going out 
in great swarms to capture the eggs and cocoons of other 
tribes of ants. These they carry to their own colonies to 
hatch, and then make life-long slaves of them. 

Topics for Study. 

The ant, an insect, — different kinds, — their homes. 
Compare the ants and the bees. 
Duties of the workers, — care of the grubs. 
Cocoons. Slave-hunters. 

LESSON VII. 

Composition. 

Arrange notes for a composition on ants, and then write 
a full account of them. 

LESSON Till. 
Oral Exercise. 
Who or which. 

Use who or which in each of the following sentences : 

1. The man .... was here has gone to England. 

2. The horse .... was lame is as well as ever. 

3. The roads .... were muddy are now very dusty. 

4. A boy .... is not kind to his mother cannot be happy. 

5. Is that James Morton .... was hurt? 

6. There go the cows .... have been sold to the farmer. 

7. The bird flew from the cage .... has an open door. 

To the Teacher. — Test thoroughly the children's discrimination in 
the use of the foregoing words, and then ask for the rule. Teach no 
technical terms. 



92 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

Written Exercise. 

1. Write five statements, in each of which the word who 
is correctly used. 

2. Write five similar statements, in each of which the 
word which is correctly used. 

3. How can you tell when to use who, and when to use 
which ? 

LESSON IX. 

Oral Exercise. 

Who or tvhonu 

Use who or whom in each of the following questions : 

1 is coming into the house with father? 

2. To ... . did you give the knife ? 
3 do you see on the platform ? 

4. With .... were you playing? 

5. From .... did you receive your new shoes ? 
6 will come with me to the woods ? 

Ask questions which the following sentences might 
answer : 

1. I came to school with Mary. 

2. Charles bought the apple for the baby. 

3. James lent his pencil to his sister. 

4. I saw Henry Maple. 

5. We did not hear anybody. 

6. The baby loves Mamma. 

7. Susie is standing by her uncle. 

"Written Exercise. 

1. Write the questions for the foregoing answers. 

2. Write five questions of your own, using the word 
whom, and write the answer after each question. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 93 

LESSON X. 

A Letter. 

One day Miss Joyce, a teacher in school No. 34, Jones- 
ville, Ohio, asked her pupils to write a letter to Mr. Long- 
fellow, the poet, at his home in Cambridge, Mass. 

To this all the pupils agreed, as they had just finished 
reading one of Mr. Longfellow's beautiful poems. 

Before beginning their letters, Miss Joyce questioned 
them as to what they intended to write. 

One little boy wanted to thank Mr. Longfellow for writ- 
ing the " Children's Hour." Another suggested that they 
should ask him if he had any little children or grand- 
children of his own ; and still another, that they should 
ask him if he really loved little children, or only said so 
in his poems. One bright-eyed little girl wanted Mr. Long- 
fellow to tell them something more of Alice, Allegra, and 
Edith, and whether they really did climb upon his chair 
and into his lap ? 

One large boy wanted to know whether the story was 
true, that General Washington, during the war of the 
Revolution, lived for a little while in the house which was 
afterwards Mr. Longfellow's. 

Many other suggestions were made by the pupils, who 
afterwards assisted the teacher in arranging, upon the 
blackboard, notes from which the letter could be written. 

1, You may arrange the notes for this letter to Mr. Long- 
fellow just as you think Miss Joyce arranged them. 

2. How many paragraphs will you have in your letter? 

3. Write the letter to Mr. Longfellow. 

4, Draw and direct the envelope. 

To the Teacher. — The details of the plan for letter- writing suggested 
above, may be varied to suit the circumstances of the class. 



94 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

IjESSOX XI. 
The Comma. 

You have already been required to use the comma in 
the heading, salutation, and close of letters. Please write 
a heading, a salutation, and a conclusion, and punctuate 
them correctly. 

Notice the use of the comma in the following sentences : 

1. Mother, I cannot tell you what has become of the 
horse. 

2. I cannot tell you w T hat has become of the horse, 
mother. 

3. I cannot tell you, mother, what has become of the 
horse. 

You will see that the word mother ■, which denotes ad- 
dress, is set off by commas in each sentence. 

1. James, Charles, and Henry gathered apples, pears, 
and grapes. 

2. A kitten likes to run, jump, and play. 

In these sentences the comma is used to separate words 
forming a series. Point out the two series in the first sen- 
tence. What words form a series in the second sentence ? 

Copy the following, using the comma where required : 

1. Where were you Nellie ? 

2. Corn wheat oats and rye are called grain. 

3. Jamestown Va. June 16 1888. 

4. I tried to find you Miss Johnson but I could not. 

5. We read write sing and recite at school. 

6. Yours sincerely James Graham. 

7. John was Washington Irving an American ? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 95 

IiESSON" XII. 

Homonyms. 

Write after each word its homonym : 

prey .... cent .... berry 

ring .... sum .... pane .... 

forth .... bough .... peace .... 

fare .... choir .... wrap ...» 

First oral and then 'written,. 

1. Use in a sentence each word in the printed list. 

2. Use each word that you have supplied. 

3. Review the lesson on homonyms in Chapter Six. 

liESSOK XIII. 

Reproduction. 

To the Teacher. — Read with the children the "Wreck of the Hes- 
perus." For the first lesson, be sure that every part of the poem is 
well understood, and then require the story to be reproduced orally. 
For the second lesson, call attention to the direct quotations, and ask 
to have them changed to indirect quotations in the written reproduc- 
tion. Be sure that the poem is associated with the poet. 

LESSOX XIV. 

Verb-forms. 
First oral and then 'written. 

Name four other words suggested by each of the follow- 
ing : — go, give, draw, fly, forget. 

go goes going went gone 

give .... .... .... 

draw .... .... .... 

fly 

forget .... .... . . . . 



96 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

You will probably write and use the first three words of 
each set correctly, provided you know how to spell them. 

Recollect that have, has, had, be, is, ivas, being, been, 
should never be used before the fourth word. 

Use the fourth and fifth ivords of each set in sentences. 

To the Teacher. — Study this lesson with the children, in order to 
develop from their use the correct forms for the words in the last two 
columns. Review the different parts of Lesson V., Chapter Six. 

LESSON XV. 
Information Exercise. 

THE BEAVER. 

The beaver is found in North America and in the Old 
World. In the winter, five or six of these animals live 
together as a family, in a house built in the water, of sticks, 
mud, and stones. These houses are round on top, and the 
entrance is under water. 

If the stream is too shallow, so that the entrance to the 
house might be closed in the winter by the ice, the beavers 
living near first build a dam at some suitable place in the 
stream. For this purpose, in the latter part of summer, 
they cut down trees with their sharp teeth, and float the 
trunks down the stream to the place selected for the dam. 
These are then sunk to the bottom by means of stones. 
More trees are then added, until the dam is high enougli 
to answer the purpose of the beavers. These trees, with 
branches and stones, are afterward firmly plastered to- 
gether with mud. 

The houses are then built in the deep water above the 
dam. The walls of these houses, or lodges, as they are 
usually called, are very thick; and as. in winter, the mud 
of which they are chiefly composed is frozen into a solid 
mass, the beavers have a safe refuge from all their enemies. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



97 




Composition. 

Read the foregoing account of 
the beaver, and study carefully the 
picture. From these two sources 
you will learn something of the 
habits of this curious animal. Try 
to find from other sources something about his size, food, 
industry, manner of life, and of his use to man. Find 
out if you can how and in what parts of this country 
he is trapped. Then prepare notes and write an orderly 
account of him. 

To the Teacher. — Such lessons as the foregoing call upon the teacher 
to devise means for the children to obtain information other than that 
contained in the brief account given in this book. The chief source of 
information will, of course, be books. The general information of the 
children should be drawn upon, also what they can learn at home, — 
but all must be supplemented and arranged by the teacher. 



98 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON XVI. 

Review. 
First oral and then written. 

Note carefully how each of the following words is 
printed : — horse's, child's, men's, wife's, colts', calves', babies', 
birds', monkey's, mouse's, kittens', robin's. 

1. Tell whether the words are singular or plural. 

2, Tell how each word should be written in the oppo- 
site number. 

3. Use each word in a written sentence. 

4, Re-write each sentence, changing the number of the 
noun which you were required to use. 

LESSON XVII. 

A Reply. 

Mr. Longfellow replies to the pupils in School No. 34, 
Jonesville, Ohio. 

He tells them how happy their letter made him, and 
that he really loves children. He describes the good times 
he has with them on the lawn in front of his house, and 
the games they play. 

He answers all the questions the children had asked 
him in their letter, and hopes they will find time to write 
him again. The letter closes with a stanza from his poem. 
" My Arm-Chair. " 

Reproduce Mr. Longfellow's letter from the notes above, 
and add the stanza which you think he selected. 

Draw the envelope and direct the letter to some pupil 
in the school mentioned. 

To the Teacher. — From the notes given above, the pupils may pie- 
pare others from which they can more easily write their letters. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 99 

LESSOR XVIII. 
Synonyms. 

Each word in the following list has one or two syno- 
nyms in the columns below : — get, aid, please, mirth, gay, 



tell, brave. 








assist 


gladness 


narrate 


j°y 


procure 


merry 


obtain 


cheerful 


gladden 


bold 


help 


daring 



Arrange the synonyms in twos or threes as the case 
may be. 

For the words in italics in the following sentences, sub- 
stitute their synonyms, determine whether the meaning 
is changed or not, and explain fully. 

1. With money one can get power, but not love. 

2. A boy may do much to aid his mother. 

3. It will please your teacher if you say " Good morning." 

4. The monkey caused great mirth in school. 

5. A gay company of girls just went by. 

6. The captain likes to tell his adventures to the children. 

7. A brave boy will always tell the truth. 

8. The prisoner made a bold attempt to escape, and the 
officer was obliged to procure assistance. 

To the Teacher. — Select from the Dictionary one hundred common 
words with their synonyms. Arrange in a blank book one hundred 
carefully constructed sentences, each containing one of the selected 
words. 

As a class exercise, read the sentences and require each one to be 
repeated by some pupil who will substitute a synonym for the word 
taken from the Dictionary. 

Example. 

Teacher. — I called upon the boy to assist me. 

Pupil. — I called upon the boy to help me. 

This may also be made a written exercise, each pupil writing every 
sentence as it is dictated by the teacher. 



100 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

L.ESSOX XIX. 

Combine the following sentences, as in Lesson XVI] . 
Chapter Six : 

1. Frank Day has a beautiful pony. 

The pony was given to Frank last Christmas. 

2. Our school had a pleasant time at the picnic. 
The picnic was near a small lake. 

The picnic was held in a grove. 

3. Benjamin Harrison is President of the United States. 
Mr. Harrison's home is in Indianapolis, Ind. 

4. A noble dog saw a child in the water. 
The dog sprang into the water. 

The dog brought the child safely to shore. 

5. London is the largest city in the world. 
London is the capital of England. 
London is situated on the Thames River. 

6. George Washington was the first President of the United 

States. 
George Washington is often called "The Father of hia 
Country." 

7. Chicago is situated on Lake Michigan. 
Chicago is the largest city in Illinois. 

Chicago is the greatest grain market in the world. 

8. A large part of Illinois consists of prairie land. 
Much of this prairie land is very level. 

The prairie land is fertile. 

9. The eastern shores of Massachusetts are washed by Massa- 

chusetts Bay. 
Massachusetts is often called "The Old Bay State." 

Write two sentences and combine them into one. 
W f rite three sentences and combine them into one. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 101 

LESSOR XX. 

Study and commit to memory the following poem by 
Phoebe Cary: 

NOBODY'S CHILD. 

1. Only a newsboy, under the light 

Of the lamp-post plying his trade in vain ; 
Men are too busy to stop to-night, 

Hurrying home through the sleet and rain. 
Never since dark a paper sold ; 

Where shall he sleep, or how be fed? 
He thinks as he shivers there in the cold, 

While happy children are safe in bed. 

2. Is it strange if he turns about 

With angry words, then comes to blows, 
When his little neighbor, just sold out, 

Tossing his pennies, past him goes? 
" Stop ! " some one looks at him, sweet and mild, 

And the voice that speaks is a tender one : 
"You should not strike such a little child, 

And you should not use such words, my son." 

3. Is it his anger or his fears 

That have hushed his voice and stopped his arm? 
" Don't tremble," these are the words he hears; 

"Do you think that I would do you harm?" 
" It is 'nt that," and the hand drops down, 

"I wouldn't care for kicks and blows; 
But nobody ever called me son 

Because I'm nobody's child I s'pose." 

4. O men! as ye careless pass along, 

Remember the love that has cared for you; 
And blush for the awful shame and wrong 
Of a world where such a thing could be true ! 



102 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

Think what the child at your knee had been 

If thus on life's lonely billows tossed ; 
And who shall bear the weight of the sin, 

If one of these " little ones " be lost ? 

IiESSOX XXI. 

1. Give the picture in the first four verses in your own 
words. Give the thought in the second four verses. 

2. What is meant by " plying his trade " ? 

3. You may ask the question in the first half of the 
second stanza in your own words, and answer it. 

4. Describe the person who says " Stop." 

5. Describe the tw T o boys as you see them. 

6. Answer the first question in the third stanza. 

7. Who says " It is n't that," and what does he mean ? 
8- Give the thought in the last half of the third stanza. 
9. What caused such a change in the boy's feelings? 

10, In the fourth stanza, why does Miss Cary say " Re- 
member the love?" Of w T hat love does she speak? 

11, Explain the fifth and sixth verses of the fourth 
stanza. 

12. What answ T er can you give to the last question ? 

13. Repeat the story of the poem. 

To the Teacher. — There will be no trouble in interesting children 
in many of the poems of Phcebe Cary. Read with them the following 

or others that you may select : "Suppose," "Ready, Hie Prairie on 

Fire," "The Leak in the Dike," "Little Gottlieb," "What the Frogs 
Sing," " Legend of the Northland." See page 223. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



103 



Chapter Eight. 

I/ESSOX I. 
Conversation Exercise. 




WARM COUNTRIES. 

1. Examine very carefully the picture at the head of this 
chapter, describe it and tell what it suggests to you. 

2. Learn from your Geographies and from other books 
all you can about warm countries, their direction from us, 
the kind of people and the animals that live there, how the 
people live and dress, their houses, food, and occupations. 

3. Contrast the seasons, the day and night, and the 
vegetation, of very cold countries, with those of very warm 
countries. 

4. Imagine a journey and its difficulties in the hottest 
part of South America, and tell about your travels. 

5. Read books of travel giving accounts of life and 
adventures in Africa, or in southern Asia. Such books 
may be found in almost any public or private library in 
the neighborhood. 



104 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

WESSON II. 
Composition. 

Write all that you have learned in Lesson I. about 
warm countries, following the order of the topics 1>< -low. 
Divide your composition into four paragraphs. 

1. Wet season ; dry season ; vegetation. 

2. People who live in Central America; in Africa; in 
India; their food and clothing ; houses; business. 

3. A journey through some hot country ; mode of travel ; 
disagreeable experiences ; camping-out. 

4. Contrast some hot country with your own, showing 
why it is pleasanter to live here than there. 

LESSON III. 
Letter-Writing {Continued). 

In Chapters Five, Six, and Seven, you have written 
letters from notes or suggestions given in the book. Of 
course, before you can become a good letter-writer, you 
must be able to write without the help of suggestions 
made by others. 

In this chapter you will be required to depend almost 
entirely upon yourself; but, after a little practice, you will 
find that you can write just as good letters as when you 
received help from your book or from your teacher. 

Below are the notes made by a boy who visited his 
grandfather in Rutland, Vt., in July, 1888. From these 
notes he wrote a letter to his mother. 

Notes. 
1. Arrival. 2. Description of journey. 3. Account of farm, 
cattle, horses, etc. 4. Account of fishing-trip one cloudy day, 
5. How I helped grandfather about the farm. 6. A little home- 
sick ; shall return next week. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 105 

Suppose it to be vacation, and that you are visiting rela- 
tives either in the city or country. 

Prepare and arrange notes from which a letter addressed 
to your father may be written. 

To the Teacher. — It will be well at first to write on the blackboard 
such topics as may be suggested by the pupils. Before writing letters 
from them, pupils should be led to arrange the topics in the best 
possible order, and to give reasons for the arrangement. 

LESSON IV. 

Prepare notes from which letters could be written on the 
following subjects : 

1. A visit to the South in summer. 

2, A visit to the North in winter. 

3. An account of a picnic. 

4, A boating excursion, including an account of an 
accident. 

To the Teacher. — The foregoing should be a class exercise, and the 
notes preserved for future use. 

LESSON V. 
"Words often Mispronounced. 

Note carefully the marking of each of the following 
words, and then pronounce very distinctly : 

al' mond (I is silent). aunt mu se' um 

rasjp' ber vy (y is silent), brooch be neath' 

Ar' ab just bis' to vy 

Ar' a bie jaunt bur rah' 

Use each word in a sentence. 

To the Teacher. — Accept for illustration of the meaning of these 
words nothing but well-constructed, thoughtful sentences. The words 
in similar preceding lessons should be frequently and distinctly pro- 
nounced in two-minute or three-minute exercises. 



106 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSOX VI. 

Reproduction. 

First oral and then tvritten. 

To the Teacher. — Read with the children Phoebe Cary's poem, "The 
Leak in the Dike." Before reading the poem, conduct a conversation 
lesson upon the nature of dikes, and the necessity for their construc- 
tion in Holland. Before the written reproduction, have notes pre- 
pared and copied by the children, or placed on the blackboard. 

I/ESSOX VII. 

Derivative "Words. 

You will notice that the word form appears in each of 
the following words : 

reform forming reformer 

inform formed information 

uniform formation deformity 

The word form is called the root of all of the other words 
because it is the most important part; or it may be said 
that the other words are derived from the root-word. 
Hence they are called derivative ivords, or derivatives. 

Each of the derivative words in the first column is 
formed by prefixing a syllable to the root-word. The 
syllables thus used are called prefixes. 

The derivative words in the second column are made 
by placing syllables after the root-word. Syllables ><> 
used are called affixes or suffixes. 

You may tell how the derivatives in the third column 
are formed? 

Use in a sentence each of the words derived from form. 
to show that you know its meaning. 

To the Teacher. — Do not require children in this grade to give t lie 
meaning of the different prefixes and suffixes. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



107 



LESSON VIII. 
Information Exercise. 

COTTON. 



Cotton-seed was planted as an experiment by some of 
the earliest settlers of the Southern States; but the plant 
was little known, except as a garden ornament, until 
after the Revolution. 




About a 
hundred 
years ago 
the first 
Sea-Island cot- 
ton was raised on 
the coast of 
Georgia. The 
seeds were ob- 
tained from the 
Bahamas, hav- 
ing been intro- 
duced there from 
the West Indies. 



COTTON FIELD. 



108 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

The seed of the cotton is planted in March or April. 
The plants grow rapidly, and reach a height of from three 
to five feet. Later on, when the pale-yellow flowers drop 
off, a triangular pod is left. This ripens during the latter 
part of summer, and, bursting open, shows the white 
cotton, in which are hidden black or green seeds according 
to the variety. Cotton-seed yields an oil which is some- 
times used in place of olive oil. 

Topics for Study and Conversation. 

When and where was cotton first raised in this country? 

Finest variety? — where from? — why so called? 

Planting seeds, — blossom, — pod, or boll. 

Cotton seeds, — cotton-gins. — Eli Whitney. 

Uses of cotton, — cotton clothing, — cotton factories. 

IiESSOX IX. 

Composition. 
Write what you have learned about cotton, following 
the order of the " Topics for Study " in Lesson VIII. 

LESSON" X. 

Homonyms. 

Supply the homonym for each of the following words : 

scene .... steak .... rote .... 



scent .... weighed . 

seize .... weight 
cell .... waisl 

1. Use in a sentence each word 
its meaning. 

2. Use in a sentence, or tell the meaning of, each word 
that you have supplied. 

3. Review the lesson on homonyms, in Chapter Seven. 



heir .... 

aisle .... 

altar .... 

in the printed list, or tell 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 109 

LESSOR XI. 

Dictation Exercise. 

A humming-bird met a butterfly, and, being pleased 
with the beauty of his person and the glory of his wings, 
made an offer of perpetual friendship. 

" I cannot think of it," was the reply, " as you once 
spurned me, and called me a drawling dolt." 

"Impossible!" exclaimed the humming-bird. "I have 
always had the highest respect for such beautiful creatures 
as you." 

" Perhaps you have now," said the other, " but when 
you insulted me I was a caterpillar. So, let me give you 
a piece of advice. Never insult the humble, as they may 
some day become your superiors." 

LESSON XII. 
Oral and written. 

1. Tell the meaning of the following words selected 
from Lesson XI., or use each in a sentence : — person, glory, 
'perpetual, reply, spurned, drawling dolt, impossible, exclaimed, 
respect, insulted, advice, humble, superiors. 

2. Change direct quotations to indirect. 

3. Re-write the entire dictation exercise, expressing the 
same thoughts without using any of the words whose 
meaning is asked for, and using only indirect quotations. 

4. What synonyms have you used for any words in 
Lesson XL? 

LESSON XIII. 
Verb-forms. 
Write four derivative words from each of the following 
root-words : — freeze, fall, see, write, grow. 

Example : freeze, freezes, freezing, froze, frozen. 



110 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

1. After completing the five sets of words, notice how the 
second and third words in each set are made from the first 

2. Use in a sentence the fourth word in each set. 

3. After what words is the fifth word generally used ? 

4. Use in a sentence the last word in each set. 

5. Review Lesson XIV., in Chapter Seven. 

Note. — See Lesson V., Chapter Six. 

I/ESSOX XIV 

A Letter. 

Robert Austin lives in Providence, R. I., where he is 
attending the Oxford Grammar School. His cousin, George 
Eliot, lives in a country town in New Jersey. Robert is 
getting tired of school-work, and is looking forward to 
vacation, when he hopes his cousin will visit him. So he 
writes to George, invites him to come, and suggests some 
of his plans for the vacation. 

1. Make notes from which Robert's letter could be written. 

To the Teacher. — From the notes made by the class, select such 
as seem most suggestive, and write them on the blackboard. Require 
all the pupils, at first, to write from the same notes. 

2, Write Robert's letter in full. 

I/ESSOX XV. 

"Words often Misused. 
Like for as. 

As is correctly used in the following sentences : 

Try to write as I do. 

James is tall and straight, as his father was. 

Few worse errors in English can be made than to use 
like instead of as in such sentences as the foregoing. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. Ill 

Complete each of the following sentences with like or as : 

My brother looks .... me. 

I wish I could talk .... you do. 

Make two sentences, in each of which like shall be used 
correctly. 

Make two sentences, in each of which as shall be used 
correctly. 

Funny for odd or strange. 

The root of funny is fun. So, whatever is funny should 
make us laugh or feel pleased. Supply the proper word 
in each of the following sentences : 

Uncle John told very .... stories to make us all laugh. 
A camel is a .... looking animal. 
The man had a very .... gait. 

Most for almost. 

Supply the proper words in the following sentences : 

.... boys like apples. 

We are .... there. 

.... all of us prefer to speak correctly. 

He said that he was .... well again. 

My lesson is .... as hard as yours. 

LESSON XVI. 

Spelling Exercise. 

The following exercises will show you how to study a 
spelling-lesson. You should prepare the lessons on your 
slate, or with paper and pencil. 



gut ter 


at tic 


car riage 


gim let 


may or 


pitch er 


cof fee 


vel vet 


sa loon 


bu reau 


sir up 


cam brie 


gar ret 


scis sors 


vin e gar 


cal i co 


pi az za 


cur tain 


hatch et 


en vel ope 



112 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

1. Arrange the words alphabetically. 

2. Classify them as to syllables. 

3. Use each word in a thoughtful sentence. 

4. Write a few sentences about " vinegar." 

IiESSON" XVII. 

Spelling Exercise, 

an gel stom ach writ ten birth day 

sail or fin ger in di rect doubt fill 

schol ar trou sers re al ly swin die 

mo ment stock ing mild ly cm na mon 

tor pe do shoul der cush ion im ag ine 

1. Which words are accented on the first syllable ? 

2. Which are accented on the last syllable ? 

3. Which words are derivatives, and from what words 
are they derived? 

4. Write four or five lines about " torpedoes." 

To the Teacher. — Pupils may do any or all of the work required in 
Lessons XVI. and XVII. in connection with any spelling-lesson that 
may be given. The object is to secure a correct knowledge of words 
by an intelligent use of them. 

I/ESSON XVIII. 

Synonyms. 

In the second list of words below, a synonym may be 
found for each word in the first list : 

1. Allow, imitate, feast, clumsy, detect, consume, border, 
construct, behavior, expensive, damage, cheat. 

2. Awkward, costly, injury, deceive, devour, discover, 
conduct, banquet, build, edge, mimic, permit. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 113 

1. Write each word with its synonym. 

2. Use each word in the first list in a thoughtful 
sentence. 

3. In which of your sentences may the synonyms be 
substituted without changing the meaning? 

Example : consume and devour are synonyms. 

A bear will consume a great deal of meat. 
A bear will devour a great deal of meat. 
A boy will sometimes consume much time in doing little 
work, but he will not devour the time. 

LESSON XIX. 
"Words to use after is and was. 

The following sentences are correct : 

1. Was it he who spoke to me f 

2. It was I who spoke to him. 

3. Is it she who is talking to us f 

4. It is ive who are talking to her. 

5. It is they who are to blame, and I blame them. 

Complete the following sentences with one of the words 
in italics in the first five sentences : 

1. Who is there ? It is ... . 

2. Is it ... . that you wish to see? 

3. I know it was .... because I saw .... 

4. Do you think it was . . . . ? No, it was .... 

5. It is ... . who were speaking to .... 

6. Did you call . . . . ? ]STo, it was .... that called you. 

7. Who is there? It is only .... You need not be afraid 
of 

8. That is my mother. I know it is ... . I hear .... 
calling. 



114 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

9. Father, was that you? Yes, Charlie, it was .... Come 

to 

10. Who sang " Home, Sweet Home"? It was .... and 
.... who sang it. 

To the Teacher. — Review this topic frequently by means of oral 
questions. 

IjESSON XX. 

A Letter. 

Clara Fay attends a private school in Kingston, Ohio. 
She has been away from her home in Nashville, Tenn.. 
nearly six months, and is looking forward, impatiently, 
to vacation, when she will once more see her father and 
mother. Her school is a very good one, and she is much 
attached to some of her school-mates. 

1. Make the notes from which a letter might be written 
to her mother. 

2. Write Clara's letter in full. 

3. Draw and direct the envelope. 

Note. — Her father is a physician living at 110 Regent St., Nashville. 
To the Teacher. — See note, Lesson III., Chapter Eight. 

IiESSOX XXI. 

Combining two or more sentences into one. 

1. Maine is the largest of the New England States. 
Maine is noted for its lumber. 

2. Portland is the largest city in Maine. 
Portland was the birthplace of Longfellow. 
Longfellow was a famous American poet. 

3. Washington served his country in the Revolution. 
Washington served his country as President. 
Washington retired to Mount Vernon. 

Mount Vernon is on the Potomac River. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 115 

4. John Adams was the second President of the United States. 
John Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams. 
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United 

States. 

5. Annie Johnson found a pocket-book. 
The pocket-book was made of seal-skin. 
It contained ten dollars. 

Annie was on her way home from school. 

6. Lake Champlain was once the scene of a famous battle. 
Lake Champlain lies between New York and Vermont. 

7. William Cullen Bryant was a poet. 

He was editor of the New York Evening Post for fifty years. 
He died at the age of eighty-four in New York. 

8. General Harrison served in the civil war with great credit. 
He also served in Congress as a Senator. 

He was afterwards elected President. 

LESSON XXII. 

Study and commit to memory the following beautiful 
poem: 

NOBILITY. 

1. True worth is in being, not seeming, — 

In doing, each day that goes by, 
Some little good, — not in dreaming 

Of great things to do by and by. 
For, whatever men say in blindness, 

And spite of the fancies of youth, 
There's nothing so kingly as kindness, 

And nothing so loyal as truth. 

2. We get back our mete as we measure, 

We cannot do wrong and feel right. 
Nor can we give pain and feel pleasure, 
For justice avenges each slight. 



116 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

The air for the wing of the sparrow, 

The bush for the robin and wren, 
But alway the path that is narrow 

And straight for the children of men. 

3. We cannot make bargains for blisses, 

Nor catch them like fishes in nets ; 
And sometimes the thing our life misses 

Helps more than the thing which it gets. 
For good lieth not in pursuing, 

Nor gaining of great nor of small ; 
But just in the doing, and doing 

As we would be done by, is all. 

4. Through envy, through malice, through hating, 

Against the world, early and late, 
No jot of our courage abating — 

Our part is to work and to wait. 
And slight is the sting of his trouble 

Whose winnings are less than his worth ; 
For he who is honest is noble, 

Whatever his fortunes or birth. 

Alice Cary. 

To the Teacher. — Study this poem very carefully with the children 
before they commit it to memory, and be sure that they appreciate 
its beautiful sentiments. Read with them the following or other 
poems selected from Alice Gary's writings: "Old Maxims," "Telling 
Fortunes," " The Wise Fairy/' " Story of a Blackbird," "Waiting for 
Something to Turn Up," "Recipe for an Appetite," "In the Dark.'' 
See page 223. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 117 



Chapter Nine 

Narratives. 

You have already had considerable practice in writ- 
ing compositions, and have learned something about 
the use of capital letters and punctuation marks. Some 
of your compositions have been called stories, some 
letters, and some reproductions. 

Sometimes you will be called upon to describe what 
you have seen ; and in order to do this well, you must 
notice very carefully every thing that will be likely to 
interest those who read your description. 

If, for example, you wish to write an account of a 
game of base-ball that you have seen, you should first 
make full notes of the game and of such other matters 
connected with it as you would like to include in your 
account. 

The notes given below may help you in the prepa- 
ration of Lesson I. Study them carefully, and notice 
that they are so arranged as to suggest the number of 
paragraphs in the composition. 

Notes. 

A bright, sunshiny day. Saturday, — no school. 

Our town boasts a famous "nine." The club that played with 
them to-day. How we went to the grounds. Rather hot and 
dusty. Incident. 

Play begins. Our boys have bad luck. How the crowd 
screamed and whistled. Luck changes. Our boys ahead by 
one run. Umpire unfair. Game a tie. 

Tenth inning decides it. Our boys beaten. The ride home. 
Better luck next time. 



118 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON I. 

Make notes for a composition on each of the following 
subjects : 

1. A fishing excursion. 

2. My visit to a menagerie. 

3. My first attempt at skating. 

LESSON II. 

To the Teacher. —The notes which the pupils have made, as required 
in Lesson I., should be very carefully considered in the class. The 
most suggestive should be selected and written upon the blackboard, 
and afterwards arranged methodically by the pupils and teacher. 

The value of descriptive or narrative compositions will depend very 
largely upon the accuracy and fullness of the notes. 

From the three sets of notes written upon the black- 
board select one set, and write a full account of the subject. 





LESSON III. 






Derivative Words. 






Oral. 






governor 


misgovern 


writer 


rewriting 


governing 


ungovernable 


rewrite 


unwritten 


government 


misgovernment 


written 


rewritten 



1. Name the root-word for each group of words. 

2. In each word, name the prefix or suffix, or both. 

3. Give the meaning of each word as nearly as you can. 

Written. 

1. Rewrite the words in each column, separating the 
root-word from the prefixes and suffixes. 

2. Write sentences which shall show that you know the 

meaning of the root-words, and of all the derivatives. 

To the Pupil. — In preparing for this lesson, read Lesson VII., Chap- 
ter Eight. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 119 

LESSON IV. 
Dictation Exercise. 

1. A rolling stone gathers no moss. 

2. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 

3. Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. 

4. Fine feathers do not make fine birds. 

5. Birds of a feather flock together. 

6. As you make your bed you must lie in it. 

7. Handsome is that handsome does. 

8. There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. 

9. A tree is known by its fruit. 
10. All that glitters is not gold. 

Oral. 
Explain in your own words the meaning of each of the 
foregoing proverbs and maxims. 

To the Teacher. — In the dictation exercise, read each sentence dis- 
tinctly and but once. 

LESSON V. 

Reproduction. 

To the Teacher. — Read with the children Phoebe Cary's poem, "The 
Prairie on Fire." Be sure that the pictures of the poem are vividly im- 
pressed by means of a conversation exercise, and, after the preparation 
of topics, require a written reproduction of the scenes and the story. 

The order below may be followed in the study of this 
poem: 

1. Read with conversation and explanation. 

2. Require the pupils to reproduce the substance of the 
poem in response to questions or hints by the teacher. 

3. Require an oral reproduction without questions or 
hints from the teacher. 

4. Require written reproduction from notes previously 
prepared in class. 

Note. — These exercises will require two lessons at least. 



120 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



LESSON VI. 

Information Exercise. 




WOOL. •"^■1 

The thick, soft 
hair on the skin of a sheep 
is called wool. This wool, 
if left to itself, would drop off in 
summer, for the sheep has then 
no need of it to keep him warm. 
But instead of allowing it to 
drop off, men cut it off just 
in time to save it. The wool 
sheared or cut from a sheep is 
called a fleece. The fleeces are 
cleaned and then sent to a 
factory, where the wool is spun 
into thread, and then woven 
into cloth. 

Wool is obtained from other animals, such as the 
alpaca, cashmere goat, etc., but the sheep furnishes the 
greater part of that which is used in making clothing. 

Topics for Study and Conversation. 

Wool, what kind of product? 

Sheep, different kinds, — some of the most valuable. 




LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 121 

Sheep-shearing, — explain the process. 
Parts of our country where the most wool is produced. 
Woolen manufactures. Worsteds. 
Uses of wool and of woolen cloths. 

What do you see in the picture, and what can you learn 
from it? 

To the Teacher. — The conversation exercise above may be followed 
by a written exercise from the same notes, but the preparation for all 
written exercises should be made very carefully. 

LESSON VII. 

Homonyms. 
After each of the following words write its homonym : 

bred .... grater .... quartz .... 

awl .... flea .... ore .... 

dew .... herd .... reed .... 

fir .... lye .... scull .... 

1, Use in a sentence each word in the printed list. 

2, Use in a sentence each word that you have supplied. 

3, Use two or more of the words in one sentence. 

I/ESSON VIII. 

Pronunciation. 

Pronounce the following words according to the mark- 
ing: 

mis' chiev ous Feb' ru a ry ea' §i ly 

mis' criiev ous ly gatti' er salm' on (1 silent) 

for' ests sug gest' wheth' er 

fore' head (h silent) e lev' en win' dow 

1. In the first and second words, note carefully the 
accent. 

2. In the third word, sound clearly the last two letters. 



122 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

3. In the fifth word, sound the first r. 

4. In the seventh, note the two sounds of g. 

5. In the eleventh word, notice that the sound of h 
comes before the sound of e. 

6. Use each of these words so as to show that you know 
its meaning. 

LESSOX IX. 
Conversation Exercise. 

OUR OWN COUNTRY. 

You have studied about " Cold Countries," and also 
about " Warm Countries." Now contrast our houses, our 
clothing, and our food, with the houses, clothing, and food 
of people living in cold countries, and also of people living 
in warm countries. 

Contrast our modes of traveling and our manufactures 
with those of cold and of warm countries. 

Give an account of any other advantages which you 
think we have over the people of those countries, and tell 
why you would rather live in our own country. 

LESSOX X. 

Written Exercise. 

Write about " Our own Country," and use as notes the 
hints found in the conversation exercise in Lesson IX. 

LESSON XI. 

Verb-forms. 

1. From each of the following root-words form a d< priva- 
tive by adding s or es: — bring, begin, bloiv, come, catch. 

2. Form a derivative from each by adding lug. 

3. What name may you give to the parts added? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 123 

4. From each word form a derivative which may be 
used after have, has, or had. 

5. What derivative from each word might be used in 
telling an event that took place last week ? 

6. Construct a table for your words like that in Les- 
son V., Chapter Six. 

7. Use each of the words in your fourth and fifth 
columns in a sentence. 

8. Review Lesson XIIL, Chapter Eight. 

To the Teacher. — Caution the pupils about the spelling when ing is 
added. 

LESSOR XII. 

Letter-Writing {Continued). 

To the Teacher. — Letter-writing can be made both interesting and 
profitable by combining it with the pupil's studies in geography. 
When a section of any country has been carefully studied, assume 
that the pupils are living in that section, and require them to write 
letters to friends, telling interesting facts concerning the country and 
its inhabitants, productions, etc. 

Answers to such letters may also be written, in which pupils give 
facts concerning their own country, or part of the country, which 
would be likely to prove of interest to their correspondents. 

In all cases make the preparation of such letters the subject of 
* conversation with the pupils, and prepare full notes as suggested in 
previous lessons. 

The following letter is given merely as a specimen of what may be 
done in this and the following grades. 

Study the letter below, and make the notes from which 

it was written. 

Paxton, 111., Oct. 14, 1888. 
My dear Cousin, — 

As I sit at my window writing, I am thinking that 

you, who live so many miles away among the hills of New 

England, may never have seen one of these vast western 

prairies. 

Can you imagine a whole township of land, yes, many 



124 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

townships, perhaps, as level as the floor in your father's 
barn, and entirely destitute of trees or even of shrubs? 
Well, our prairies in this neighborhood seem perfectly flat, 
and there is not a tree to be seen except now and then a few 
which have been planted by the settlers. Even stones are 
seldom found, and one may travel many a mile without 
seeing even a pebble in the black soil of our dusty roads. 

I have been told that these prairies were once under 
water, — that they were the beds of great seas ; but I am 
not wise enough really to know whether these sayings 
are true or not. I do know, however, that you would like 
to see these great plains, which must look so much like 
the vast ocean of which you speak. Some of the western 
prairies are called rolling ])rairies, because they look like 
the sea when it is in motion. I have seen such prairies 
myself many miles away, in another State. 

Sometime I will tell you about the wheat, corn, rye, and 
oats that grow here; but I forget, — you must have learned 
about these things in your Geography. 

Well, dear cousin, if I have told you nothing but what 
you knew before, at least I have kept my promise to write % # 
you a long letter. Now please write me all about your New- « 
England hills, and remember that I have never seen them. 

Your loving cousin, Mamie. 

IdESSOX XIII. 

Preparation for Letter- Writing. 

Prepare the notes for a letter in answer to the one writ- 
ten by Cousin Mamie, in Lesson XII. 

Write your letter to Cousin Mamie in full. 

To the Teacher. — Letters like the foregoing must follow lessons in 
geography, in which the pupils are required to give accurate infor- 
mation of the country which they are to describe. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



125 



LESSOR XIV. 

Synonyms. 

1. From the following list of words select the synonyms, 
and place them in pairs : — forsake, hasten, 'plentiful, desert, 
adieu, abundant, pleasant, collect, plenty, agreeable, abundance, 
hurry, beautify, affix, wealth, forgive, gather, adorn, skillful, 
pardon, annex, riches, farewell, clever. 

2. Use one of each pair of words in a sentence, and tell 
whether the sentence expresses exactly the same meaning 
when the other word is substituted. 

3. Can you name a third synonym for any of the words ? 



LESSOR XV. 
Study of a Picture. 










First oral and then tvritten. 

l. Describe the picture, telling what you see in it and 
what it suggests to }^ou. 



126 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

2. Tell what you know about Indians, — their color, 
appearance, disposition, and manner of life. Describe the 
ajDpearance of this country when the Indians possessed it. 

3. Tell any story that you have heard or read about 
Indians. 

Note. — In describing a picture, we use the words foreground, back- 
ground, center, right, and left. 

LESSON XVI. 

Words often Misused. • 
Will for shall. 

In asking questions, will should not be used before / or 
we. Complete the following sentences with the proper 
word : 

1. Where .... we go when school is out? 

2 I bring the book to you ? 

3. When the work is done, what .... I do ? 
4 we ever learn to use shall correctly? 

Can for may 

May should "be used either in asking or granting permis- 
sion. We can do what we have strength or ability to do. 
Supply the proper word in the following sentences : 

1. Mrs. Gray, .... I take your pencil? Certainly you .... 

2. I should like to go home now ; .... I ? 

3. I . . . . solve that problem ; . . . . you ? 

Less for fewer. 

Less should be used in speaking of quantity; as, less noise, 
less water. 

Fewer should be used in speaking of number; as, fewer 
horses, fewer minutes. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 127 

Complete the following sentences with the correct words : 

1. There are .... boys than girls in our school, but the girls 
make .... noise than the boys. 

2. I have .... credit marks than Mar}^ because I have spent 
.... time in study. 

3. The .... water there is in the pond the .... fish there 
will be. 

Construct three questions, showing the correct use of shall. 
Construct three questions, showing the correct use of may. 
Construct three statements, each of which shall contain 
less and fewer properly used. 

WESSON XVII. 
Paraphrase. 

The thoughts which a writer has expressed in prose or 
poetry may be expressed by changing the form of what 
he has written. This change in expression is called para- 
phrase. The most common paraphrase consists in chang- 
ing poetry into prose. This may be done by using very 
nearly the same words, or by expressing the thoughts in 
almost entirely different language. You have already 
done much of this kind of work in connection with 
reproductions of stories, where you have been required to 
tell, in your own words, the substance of what you have 
read. The stanza below, with the following statements 
of the meaning in prose, will illustrate what is meant 
by paraphrasing: — 

Under a spreading chestnut-tree 

The village smithy stands ; 

The smith — a mighty man is he, 

With large and sinewy hands; 

And the muscles of his brawny arms 

Are strong as iron bands. 

Heney W. Longfellow. 



128 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

1. The village smithy stands under a spreading chestnut-tree. 
The smith is a mighty man, and he has Large and sinewy hands. 
His brawny arms have muscles as strong as iron bands. 

2. The blacksmith shop of the village stands under a large 
chestnut-tree whose branches almost cover it. The blacksmith 
is a man of great strength. The work which he does has made 
his hands very large, and the muscles of his arm are almost as 
strong as iron. 

You will see that the first paraphrase was made with 
very little change in Mr. Longfellow's words, w T hile in the 
last the words were changed very freely. 

1. Make a paraphrase of the following stanzas, using 
nearly the same words. 

2. Explain fully in your own words the meaning of each 
stanza. 

1, Build me straight, worthy master, — 

Stanch and strong, a goodly vessel 
That shall laugh at all disaster, 

And with wave and whirlwind wrestle. 

From "Building of the Ship," by Longfellow. 

2, New are the leaves on the oaken spray, 

Xew the blades of the silky grass ; 
Flowers, that were buds but yesterday. 
Peep from the ground where'er I pa—. 

From "The Xew and the Old," by Bryant. 

3, The glance that doth thy neighbor doubt, 

Turn thou, man, within, 

And see if it will not bring out 

Some unsuspected sin. 

Alice Cary. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 129 

LESSOR xyin. 

Commit to memory the following poem, by Oliver 
Wendell Holmes, and try to interpret its meaning, as a 
preparation for the fuller study outlined in the next 
lesson : 

THE OLD MAN DREAMS. 

1. Oh for one hour of youthful joy! 

Give back my twentieth spring! 
I'd rather laugh a bright-haired boy, 
"Than reign a gray-beard king. 

2. Off with the spoils of wrinkled age ! 

Away with learning's crown ! 
Tear out life's wisdom-written page, 
And dash its trophies down. 

3. One moment let my life-blood stream 

From boyhood's fount of flame ! 
Give me one giddy, reeling dream 
Of life all love and fame. 

4. My listening angel heard the prayer, 

And, calmly smiling, said, 
" If I but touch thy silvered hair, 
Thy hasty wish hath sped." 

5. "But is there nothing in thy track, 

To bid thee fondly stay, 
While the swift seasons hurry back, 
To find the wished-for day?" 

6. " Ah, truest soul of womankind ! 

Without thee what were life! 



130 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

One bliss I cannot leave behind : 
I'll take — my — precious — wife." 

7. The angel took a sapphire pen 

And wrote in rainbow dew, 
The man would be a boy again, 
And be a husband too ! 

8. "And is there nothing yet unsaid 

Before the change appears? 
Remember, all their gifts have fled 
With those dissolving years." 

9. "Why, yes;" for memory would recall 

My fond paternal joys ; 
"I could not bear to leave them all — 
I'll take — my — girl — and — boys." 

10. The smiling angel dropped his pen, — 
" Why, this will never do ; 
The man would be a boy again, 
And be a father too." 

Hi And so I laughed, — my laughter woke 
The household with its noise, — 
And wrote my dream, when morning broke, 
To please the gray-haired boys. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

I/ESSON XIX. 

Study of the Poem. 

1. Who speaks in the first three stanzas ? 

2. What does the speaker want? 

3. What is meant by the last two verses of the first 
stanza ? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 131 

4. What is meant by "the spoils of wrinkled age"? by 
" learning's crown " ? 

5. What " prayer " is referred to in the fourth stanza ? 

6. Who speaks in the last half of the fourth stanza ? 

7. Tell in your own language what he says. 

8. What is the meaning of the question asked in the 
fifth? 

9. Who speaks in the sixth stanza? Name all the 
words in the sixth that refer to wife. 

10. Give the meaning of the seventh. 

11. Who speaks in the eighth stanza? Why is the 
question asked? Why does he say "remember"? 

1 12. Who speaks in the ninth? Give what is said, in 
your own words. 

13. Explain the tenth stanza. 

14. Who are the " gray-haired boys " ? 

LESSON XX. 
Composition. 

Write the story of " The Old Man Dreams," and tell 
who the old man was. 

To the Teacher. — Read with the children, and talk about, the fol- 
lowing of Holmes's poems: "To an Insect," "Lexington," "The 
Deacon's Masterpiece," "Grandmother's Story of Bunker-Hill Battle." 
See page 223. 



132 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 




JAoa^ax^V I . S^-x-cJ?, 



*-*A-*-x^i 



Chapter Ten. 

LESSON I. 
Topics for Study and Conversation. 

1. Birthplace and family of Henry W. Longfellow. 

2. Boyhood. " My Lost Youth." 

3. College life, and famous classmates. 

4. Professor in college. 

5. His home at Cambridge, and his family. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 133 

6. His travels in Europe. 

7. His writings. First poem. 

8. The " Children's Arm-Chair. " 

9. Longfellow's love for children. " Children," " Chil- 
dren's Hour," " Weariness." 

10. The celebration of his seventy-fifth birthday. Whit- 
tier's poem. 

11. Longfellow's death and burial. 

LESSON" II. 
Biographical Sketch. 

Write what you have learned in Lesson I. about Mr. 
Longfellow. Follow the order of the notes in that lesson, 
and divide your composition into paragraphs. 

LESSOK III. 

Words often Mispronounced. 

wharf truths pre tense' de§ gsert' 

won't rinse mus tache' greas/ ing 

yon' der risk 6' a sis in quir' y 

After studying the words carefully, write them upon 
slates or paper without marking them. Then test your 
ability to answer the following questions on pronunciation, 
and mark your words without the aid of the book. 

1. What sound has o in the second word ? 

2. Why is th not marked in the fourth word ? 

3. Name the vowel sound in the fifth and sixth. 

4. Which is the accented syllable in the seventh, eighth, 
ninth, tenth, twelfth ? 

5. In the eighth what sound has ch f 

6. What sound has s in the ninth ? 



134 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

7. What is the plural of the ninth word ? 

8. What sound has each s in the tenth ? 

9. What sound has s in the eleventh ? 

10. Name the sound of i in each syllable of the twelfth. 

11. Which words are derivatives? What are their root- 
words ? 

12. Pronounce the words from the book. 

13. Use each word in a thoughtful sentence, and, in giving 
the sentence, speak the required word very distinctly. 

To the Teacher. — Always review one or more similar lessons on 
pronunciation, if there is time. 

LESSOX IV. 
Dictation Exercise. 

Study the meaning of the following verses, and the man- 
ner of writing them. They were selected from Longfellow's 
poems. After writing the sentences, explain their full 
meaning in you own words. 

1. Our to-days and yesterdays 

Are the blocks with which we build. 

2. Go to the woods and hills : no tears 

Dim the sweet look that Nature wears. 

3. Ah ! what would the world be to us 

If the children were no more. 

4. Into each life some rain must fall, 

Some days must be dark and dreary. 

5. A wind came out of the sea 

And said, ''0 mists, make room for me!" 

6. Something attempted, something done, 

Has earned a night's repose. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 135 

7. Blow winds ! and waft through all the rooms 

The snow-flakes of the cherry-blooms. 

8. Dust thou art, to dust returnest, 

"Was not spoken of the soul. 

To the Teacher. — If desirable, this lesson may be divided into two 
or even three dictation exercises. 

LESSOK V. 
Homonyms. 

After each of the following words write its homonym : 
seam . . . . beach . . . . current . . „ . 



shone 


cellar 


flue 


soul .... 


corps 


whoop 


bass 


creek 


mail 



1. Use in a sentence each word in the foregoing list. 

2. Use in a sentence each word which you have sup- 
plied. 

3. Define as many of the words in each list as you can. 
Make the definitions exact. 

4. Many people never learn to use the homonyms there, 
their, and to, too, two, correctly. Write sentences to prove 
that you can use these five words correctly. 

LESSON VI. 
A Letter. 

Suppose that you are now living in some warm country 
about which you have studied in your Geography. Pre- 
pare notes, and then write a letter to a friend living where 
you do now. 
To the Teacher. — See suggestions in Lesson XII., Chapter Nine. 



136 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON VII. 

Synonyms. 

Each of the first three words in the following list has 
one synonym in the columns below. Each of the second 
three words has two synonyms: — exact, loitered, discuss, 
fold, hale, dismal. 

dreary gloomy envelop 

lingered argue correct 

healthy robust wrap 

1. Arrange the synonyms in twos or threes as the case 
may be. 

2. Study the synonyms ; first, think how they are alike 
in meaning ; and, second, think how they differ. 

3. In the following sentences, decide whether the mean- 
ing would be changed if the synonyms were used for the 
words in italics : 

1. Our teacher is very exact in his language. 

2. Fold your letter and place it in the envelope. 

3. A hale old man of seventy is pleasant to meet. 

4. The little boy lingered near the door, as he wished to 
apologize for his conduct. 

5. People discuss questions freely just before election. 

6. " The day is cold and dark and dreary." 

LESSON VIII. 

Oral Paraphrase or Conversation. 

Note. — The following stanzas were selected from Longfellow's 
poems : 

1. I heard the bells on Christmas-day 
Their old familiar carols play, 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 137 

And wild and sweet the woods repeat 
Of peace on earth, good-will to men. 

From "Christmas Bells." 

2, Somewhat back from the village street 
Stands the old-fashioned country-seat. 
Across its antique portico 

Tall poplar-trees their shadows throw, 
And, from its station in the hall, 
An ancient time-piece says to all, 
" Forever — never 
Never — forever." 

From " The Old Clock on the Stairs." 

3, This is the Arsenal. From floor to ceiling 

Like a huge organ rise the burnished arms; 
But from their silent pipes no anthem, pealing, 
Startles the villagers with strange alarms. 

From "The Arsenal at Springfield." 

4, Out of the bosom of the Air, 

Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken, 

Over the woodland brown and bare, 

Over the harvest fields forsaken, 

Silent, and soft, and slow, 

Descends the snow. 

From " Snow-Flakes." 

5, By the fireside there are peace and comfort, 
Wives and children with fair, thoughtful faces, 

Waiting, watching 
For a well-known footstep in the passage. 

From "The Golden Mile-Stone." 

6, Often I think of the beautiful town 

That is seated by the sea; 



138 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

Often in thought go up and down 
The pleasant streets ol that dear old town, 
And my youth comes back to me. 

From "My Lost Youth." 

To the Teacher. — In the preparation of this lesson, ask the children 
to commit to memory the stanza that seems to them most beautiful 
or thoughtful, each to decide for himself. The class exercise should of 
course include the recitation of the extracts selected. Encourage the 
children to read the poems containing the stanzas, and ask them for 
any additional thoughts from the poems read. The primary object 
of such lessons is to lead children to appreciate and love the beauti- 
ful, both in thought and in expression. If expedient the lesson may 
be divided into two or three exercises. 

liESSON IX. 

Information Exercise. 

Read the following account, and gather from every 
possible source information about cocoons. The more 
carefully you make the preparation, the better w T ill be 
your composition which is to follow. 

THE COCOON. 

Many insects begin life as little worms. Every few days 
these little worms change their skins. Some of them 
change them four times, and then are ready to spin their 
cocoons. The little worm — which is now full grown — 
attaches itself' to something by its hind feet, and then 
throws out from its mouth a continuous thread, which it 
manages to wind round and round itself until it is com- 
pletely covered. This thread, which forms the cocoon of 
the silk-worm, is several miles long. 

After lying in the cocoon a certain length of time, the 
change is completed and a moth bursts forth. If a female, 
it soon deposits its eggs, and dies after a short life of three 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 139 

or four days. The male lives about the same length of 
time. 

Of course, you have all seen the cocoons of moths and 
butterflies, which are often fastened under window-sills or 
fence-rails or upon the limbs of trees ; and many of you 
have put them into boxes and have seen the beautiful 
moths or butterflies come out of them. 

To the Teacher. — Encourage the children to collect cocoons, and 
keep them in the school-room while the insect is undergoing its trans- 
formation ; or, better still, confine the worms which make cocoons, in 
large bottles or inverted tumblers, and see the cocoons made. Be 
sure that the pupils get all the information they can by their own 
observation. 

One object in giving such lessons is to induce the children to become 
careful observers. 

LESSOIN" X. 

Composition. 

Prepare notes, and then write what you have learned 
about cocoons. 

LESSON XI. 

Review. 

1. Name five nouns that form the plural by adding es. 

2. Name two nouns ending in o that form the plural 
by adding s. 

3. Name three dissyllables ending in y that form the 
plural by adding s. Name three nouns ending in y whose 
plurals end in ies. 

4. Name three nouns ending in / or fe that form their 
plurals by adding s. Name three nouns ending in / or fe 
whose plurals end in ves. 

5. Mention and illustrate two uses of the period. 

6. What letters are always vowels ? 



140 LANGUAGE EXERCISES 

7. Illustrate five different sounds of a in five different 
words. Mark a in each word. Name the five sounds. 

8. Illustrate in the same way, mark, and name two 
sounds of e, two sounds of i, four sounds of o, four sounds 
of u, and two sounds of oo. 

9. C may represent the sounds of three different letters. 
Name the letters. Illustrate. Has c any sound of its 
own? 

10. Represent the sound of long oo in three different 
ways in different words. 

X.ESSON XII. 
Verb-forms. 

Each of the following words will suggest four other 
words, making five forms in all. Arrange the forms of 
the several words in a table similar to those in previous 
lessons, and number the columns 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 

In answering the following questions, you may speak of 
the forms as first, second, third, etc., numbering them 
from the columns in which they stand. 

ring shake drink speak ste<d 

1. Which forms are made by means of the suffix ingf 

2. Which forms end in s ? 

3. Before which of the forms can the word to be used? 

4. Before which forms can have, has, had, be used? 

5. Use in sentences the words in the fourth column. 

6. Use in sentences the words in the fifth column. 

Review. 

Use the following words in sentences: — begun, blew, 
came, blown, frozen, fell, seen, wrote, grew, saw, fallen, begun. 
grown, written, went, drawn, forgot, given, flew, done, broke, 
eaten, did, flown, gave, broken, gone, forgotU u, ate, come. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



141 



IiESSON" XIII. 
Information Exercise. 




THJK SILK-WORM. 

The silk-worm is hatched from the egg of a kind of 
moth. The egg is about the size of a mustard-seed. The 
worm comes out in a few days if the weather is warm and 
dry. When it is between three and four weeks old it 
begins to spin its cocoon, for it is now time for it to go 
to sleep, and a nice warm hiding-place must be made. 

Usually it takes only a few hours for the silk-worm to 
spin its cocoon, but sometimes two or three days are re- 
quired. In about two weeks in warm climates, or nearly 



142 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

two months in cold, the cocoon opens at one end, and out 
comes — not the worm, but a whitish colored moth. 

The cocoon of the silk-worm is very valuable, for it is 
made of a fine silk thread, which can be unwound and 
spun into silk, of which articles of clothing are made. 

Topics for Study. 

Eggs, — where laid, size, etc. The worm, — spinning the co- 
coons. The moth. When the cocoons are collected and how 
treated. Silk manufacture. 

To the Teacher. — The "Topics for Study" must be considered in 
a conversation exercise, because most pupils will be unable to find 
books from which to gather the necessary information. 

LESSON XIV. 

Composition. 
Make notes of what you have learned about the silk- 
worm, and afterwards write as full an account of the 
subject as you can. 

LESSON XV. 

Words often Misused. 

Cute. 

Cute is an abbreviation for acute. It means clever or 
sharp. So when people speak of a cute baby, they should 
mean a sharp baby. 

Cute is not a good word to use in any sense, although it 
is very common. 

In and into. 

Explain the difference in the meanings of the following 
sentences : 

The boy ran in the house. 
The boy ran into the house. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 143 

The man carried the potatoes into the cellar. 
The man carried the potatoes in the cellar. 

In the following sentences supply in or into : 

1. I jumped from the boat .... the water. 

2. Will you come .... the school-house ? I am .... it now. 

3. The woman ran from the house .... the street. 

Cupola, Balustrade, Baluster. 

Notice that cupola ends in a, and that o is in the second 
syllable of the word. 

Almost every flight of stairs has a balustrade. Boys 
sometimes slide down the railing of a balustrade. 

The rounds upon which the railing of a balustrade rests 

are balusters. 

To the Teacher. — Engage the children in conversation about the 
words presented in this lesson until their use is thoroughly under- 
stood. Review similar lessons in preceding chapters. 

LESSON XVI. 

Composition. 

To the Teacher. — Read carefully with the children Longfellow's 
poem, "The Village Blacksmith." See that the pictures in the poem, 
and the lesson in the last stanza are brought vividly to the minds 
of the pupils, and given by them in oral recitation. Then tell them of 
the incident which led to the writing of " My Arm-Chair," and read 
this poem also in class. 

A composition may follow, which shall tell what they have learned 
from and about, the two poems. It would be a pleasant feature of the 
exercise if each composition should contain an extract from one of 
the poems. 

LESSON XVII. 

Derivatives. 

Root-words are often called primitive words or primitives. 
The root of the word primitive is prime, which means 



144 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

first. Hence the primitive word is the first word, and from 
it the derivative is formed. 

Study carefully the following lists of derivative words : 

faithful civilized careless monosyllable 

faithfully civilly careful dissyllable 

faithless uncivil carelessly trisyllable 

unfaithful uncivilly carefully syllabicate 

1. Name the root or primitive word in each set of words. 

2. Name the prefixes and suffixes in each set. 

3. Define the words or use them in sentences. 

4. Copy the several sets of words, separating the roots 
from the prefixes and suffixes. 

LESSOR XVIII. 
A Letter. 

July 7, 1888, Delia Morris writes to her friend Helen 
Winship, giving an account of the annual exhibition of 
her school in Cleveland, Ohio. 

She begins her letter by saying that she would have 
written before, had not the pleasures as well as the cares 
of the recent Fourth prevented. 

Her school closed on the last Friday in June with a 
grand exhibition, in which she took an active part. She 
describes the decorations of the hall, the company, noted 
persons present, and finally the exercises of the pupils and 
the closing ceremonies. 

Think out each portion of the account which Delia 
Morris's letter may have contained, and then write the 
letter in full. 

Have a distinct picture in your own mind of the entire 
scene, and then try to describe it in such words as will 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



145 



convey the picture to the mind of the reader. If pos- 
sible, introduce some humorous incident to add spice to 
your letter. 

To the Teacher. — Prepare the pupils for this work by a carefully- 
conducted conversation exercise. 

LESSOR XIX. 
Conversation Exercise. 




1. Describe the foregoing picture fully, and tell what 
you think of the family. 

2. The picture was suggested by the most famous book 
that has ever been written for boys. If you have read the 
book, tell what you know about the story. If not, read it 
before this school year is over. 



146 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSOR XX. 
Dictation Exercise. 

MAXIMS AND PROVERBS. 

To the Teacher. — Read each sentence distinctly and but once. 

1. Charity begins at home. 

2. A drowning man will catch at a straw. 

3. Beggars must not be choosers. 

4. Cut your coat according to your cloth. 

5. Every rose has its thorn. 

6. Fair exchange is no robbery. 

7. A stitch in time saves nine. 

8. Great oaks from little acorns grow. 

9. Honesty is the best policy. 

10. Try to hit the nail on the head. 

n. He does much who does well what he has to do. 

12. Never cross a bridge till you come to it. 

13. Paddle your own canoe. 

14. The early bird catches the worm. 

15. Where there 's a will, there 's a way. 

After writing and, if necessary, correcting the foregoing 
sentences, give your idea orally of the meaning of each. 
The lesson should be well studied. 

LESSOR XXI. 
Review. 

1. State two uses of the apostrophe and illustrate. 

2. What is a direct quotation ? How is it written ? 

3. In what sort of quotation are no quotation marks 
used? 

4. Tell whether there is a quotation in the following 
sentence, and if so what kind of quotation : Geonr*' wrote 
his mother that he had recently visited Niagara Falls, and 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 147 

that his pleasure would have been complete had she been 
with him. 

5. Prove that there is a quotation in 4, by changing the 
sentence. Explain the effect of the change. 

6. Where do you use the comma in writing the heading 
of a letter ? the salutation ? the close ? 

7. Write two sentences which will illustrate other uses 
of the comma. 

8. What are synonyms ? What are homonyms ? 

9. What is meant by paraphrase ? 

10. What is the root of the word classify? What does 
the word mean ? In what cases have you been required 
to classify words? 

LESSON XXII. 

Study and commit to memory the following poem : 

CHILDREN. 

1. Come to me, ye children! 

For I hear you at your play, 
And the questions that perplexed me 
Have vanished quite away. 

2, Ye open the eastern windows, 

That look towards the sun, 
Where thoughts are singing swallows 
And the brooks of morning run. 

3. In your hearts are the birds and the sunshine, 

In your thoughts the brooklets flow, 
But in mine is the wind of Autumn, 
And the first fall of the snow. 

4, Ah! what would the world be to us 

If the children were no more? 



148 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

We should dread the desert behind us 
Worse than the dark before. 

5. What the leaves are to the forest, 

With light and air for food, 
Ere their sweet and tender juices 
Have been hardened into wood, — 

6. That to the world are children; 

Through them it feels the glow 

Of a brighter and sunnier climate 

Than reaches the trunks below. 

7. Come to me, ye children ! 

And whisper in my ear 
What the birds and the winds are singing 
In your sunny atmosphere. 

8. For what are all our contrivings, 

And the wisdom of our books, 
When compared with your caresses, 
And the gladness of your looks. 

9. Ye are better than all the ballads 

That ever were sung or said; 
For ye are living poems, 
And all the rest are dead. 

Henry W. Longfellow. 

To the Teacher. — Of course a conversation exercise should accom- 
pany the learning of this beautiful poem. Re-read the poems sug- 
gested at the close of Chapter Six, and read "The Bell of Atri," and 
selections from "Hiawatha,"' "Evangeline," and the "Building of the 
Ship." Every boy and girl in America should study and commit to 
memory the concluding part of the last named poem. 

Many other of Longfellow's short poems might be named, but the 
teacher's good taste will be sure to find them out. 



PART III 



TO TEACHERS 



Attention has already been called to the memorizing 
of choice selections of poetry, and in succeeding chapters 
still greater stress will be laid upon the value of this 
feature of language-work. It is believed that too little 
time has been given, in the schools, to a careful study 
of the works of the best American authors. Much of our 
literature is within the comprehension of the pupils in 
our lower grades. Many of the thoughts find appropriate 
expression in language that is worthy of a permanent 
place in the memories of our children. 

It Avould be difficult to over-estimate the influence for 
good of "memory gems" when permanently lodged in 
the mind and understanding of a child. Nor should we 
under-estimate their value for language-training. Gems 
of poetry or prose, — the} 7 - are none the less gems because 
of the beauty of their setting, — when thoroughly memo- 
rized, keep constantly before our minds the highest ideals 
of expression, and such ideals constantly stimulate us to 
greater effort in the same direction. 

Teachers are urged to study with the pupils the selec- 
tions given in the book, and such others as may seem 
to them worthy of time and effort. Many pupils will 
hardly find all that is good in a poem without some assist- 
ance from a teacher; and frequently this assistance can 
best be given by suggesting collateral reading in the way 
of "side-lights." This supplementary reading, to which 
attention is called in many of the chapters, will contribute 
greatly to the language-training of the pupils. 
150 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



151 




Chapter Eleven. 

LESSOR I. 
Topics for Study and Conversation. 

1. Whittier's birthplace and home circle. 
Bound.") 

2, The Friends, or " Quakers." 



(" Snow- 



152 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

3. School life. Very limited advantages. How he earned 
money to pay his tuition. " In School Days." " My 
Playmate." 

4. Effect of Robert Burns's poems. 

5. Writing for newspapers. (Garrison.) 

6. An editor. 

7. Most famous poems. 

8. His present home (1889), and his age. 

To the Teacher. — The poems of Mr. Whittier are so simple in con- 
struction and so easily understood, that they are especially interesting 
to children. It will be very easy to select, for use in school, a large 
number of his poems from the lists given on page 223. 

LESSOR II. 

Biographical Sketch of John G. Whittier. 

Write what you have learned about Mr. Whittier, follow- 
ing the order of the topics in Lesson I. 

LESSOR III. 
Dictation Exercise. 
The following verses were selected from Whittier's poems : 

1. Cheerily then my little man, 

Live and laugh as boyhood can. 

2. Still let us for His golden corn 

Send up our thanks to God. 

3. Who looking back from his manhood's prime 

Sees not the specter of his misspent time? 

4. Tis the noon of the spring-time, yet never a bird 

In the wind-shaken elm or maple is heard. 

5. Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 

The saddest are these, " It might have been." 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 153 

6. What moistens the lips, what brightens the eye, 

What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin-pie? 

7. Long live the good school! giving out year by year 

Recruits to true manhood and womanhood dear. 

8. Ah! that thou couldst know thy joy 

Ere it passes, barefoot boy. 

To the Teacher. — In preparation of the lesson, direct the children's 
attention to the thought as well as to the form of the couplets. The 
material for a conversation lesson, which should follow, is excellent. 
Many teachers prefer to have short dictation exercises. This lesson, or 
any other like it, may be divided into two or more shorter ones. 

liESSCXN" IT. 
For Reproduction. 

VALUATION. 

1. The old Squire said, as he stood by his gate, 

And his neighbor, the Deacon, went by, 
" In spite of my bank stock and real estate, 
You are better off, Deacon, than I. 

2. " We're both growing old and the end's drawing near, 

You have less of this world to resign, 
But, in heaven's appraisal, your assets, I fear, 
Will reckon up greater than mine. 

3. "They say I am rich, but I'm feeling so poor, 

I wish I could swap with you even : 
The pounds I have lived for and laid up in store, 
For the shillings and pence you have given." 

4. "Well, Squire," said the Deacon, with shrewd common-sense, 

While his eye had a twinkle of fun, 

" Let your pounds take the way of my shillings and pence, 

And the thing can be easily done." 

John G. Whittier. 



154 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

Study carefully the foregoing poem and then write the 
incident in two paragraphs, using no direct quotations. 
Add a third paragraph, telling whether you think the 
Squire was sincere, and the reason for your opinion. 

To the Teacher. — Let the recitation consist of the reading of several, 
or all, of the reproductions, and a conversation upon the third para- 
graph of the pupils' compositions. 

I/ESSON V. 

Exercise in Pronunciation. 

In the lessons for pronunciation thus far in this book, 
the words have all been carefully marked. For the correct 
pronunciation of words in similar lessons in the remainder 
of the book, you must depend on the Dictionary. 

fertile extra plague 

gradually gestures launch 

government address mountainous 

illustrated arithmetic quinine 

In preparation of the lesson, copy the words, and with 
the aid of your Dictionary divide them into syllables and 
mark the accented syllable in each. Then note carefullv 
the marks of the letters, especially in the accented sylla- 
ble, and you may be certain of the pronunciation of the 
word. 

1. What sound has i in the first word? 

2. What is the second syllable of the second word ? 

3. What is the root-word of the third ? What is the 
last syllable? 

4. Which syllable is accented in the fourth ? 

5. In the sixth is g hard or soft? 

6. In the seventh, which syllable is always accented? 

7. Give the sound of a in each monosyllable. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 155 

8. Give the sounds of i in each syllable of the twelfth. 

9, Name the derivatives and their primitive words. 

10. Pronounce the words very distinctly. 

11. Define each word, or use it in a thoughtful sentence. 

12. Pronounce the words in Lesson III., Chapter Ten. 

To the Teacher. — Frequent class exercises should be had in the 
quick finding of words in the Dictionary, and in the correct determi- 
nation of pronunciation and appropriate definition. The Dictionary 
should be the constant hand-book of the pupil. 

IjESSCXN" VI. 

Preparation for Letter-Writing. 

It Imagine that you are living in Greenland, and have 
friends living where you do now. 

2, Prepare notes from which you may write a letter to 
one of your friends. Arrange the notes so as to suggest 
the number of paragraphs. 

3. Your letter should include an account of tne country, 
the climate, people, houses, food, modes of traveling, etc. 

To the Pupil. — In the preparation of this letter you can get much 
assistance from books containing accounts of adventures in the Arctic 
regions. Such books may be found in any good library in your 
neighborhood. 

iiEsso^ vn. 

Letter. 

Write the letter in full from your notes prepared under 

Lesson VI. Arrange your paragraphs as suggested by 

your notes. 

Review. 

After you have written the letter above in full, you 
may write answers to the following questions : 

1. What is the heading of your letter? 

2. What information is given in the heading ? 



156 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



3. What is the salutation of your letter ? 

4. What words in the salutation begin with capitals, and 
why ? 

5. What is the conclusion of your letter? 

6. What marks of punctuation have you used in the 
conclusion f 

7. Draw and direct the envelope. 

LESSON VIII. 



Abbreviations. 



Anon., Anonymous. 

inst., this month. 

Jr., Junior. 

M. D., Doctor of Medicine. 

prox., next month. 



Sr., Senior. 

TJ. S. A., United States Army. 

TJ. S. N., United States Navy. 

ult., last month. 

Via, by the way of. 



Anonymous means " without name." It is written after 
any composition whose author is unknown. 

The use of the fourth, seventh, and eighth abbreviations 
in the foregoing list is shown with the following names : 
S. E. Edwards, M. D. ; Gen. W. T. Sherman, U. S. A. ; Capt. 
Ericsson, U. S. N. 

James Madison, Jr., is the son of James Madison, Sr. 

The use of the three abbreviations inst., 'prox., and ult. is 
shown in the following sentences : Lieut. Barry, U. S. N., is 
expected in New York on the 17th inst. He left Malta on 
the 15th ult., and will leave for California on the 20th prox. 

Via is not really an abbreviation, but a full Latin word. 

1. Copy the abbreviations in the list, and write from 
memory the words for which they stand. 

2. Use the abbreviations so as to show that you know 
their meaning. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 157 

LESSOR IX. 

Information Exercise. 

To the Teacher. — Ask pupils to make a collection of shells along 
the shore of some lake or river. Some of the shells will be empty, or 
dead shells. These should be studied first. Each pupil in the class 
should be supplied with a shell, and taught to draw its form correctly 
in preparation for the following lesson. 

Study the following description of a shell, and compare 
it with the best specimen you can find. 

FRESH-WATER SNAIL-SHELLS. 

Did you ever start at the top of a tall tower and walk 
around and around a winding, or spiral, staircase as you 
came down? The snail-shell is like that staircase. Be- 
ginning at the pointed top, or apex of the shell and follow- 
ing the spiral down, each complete twist around the shell 
is called a whorl. The line separating the whorls is the 
suture. All the whorls form a spire.. Do you see why such 
shells are called spiral shells ? 

Following down from the apex you soon reach the door- 
way, where the snail puts out its head for food. This 
doorway is called the aperture. It is just here that the 
shell becomes larger as it grows. 

To the Pupil. — After having studied the foregoing account of a 
fresh-water snail-shell, write in the proper places, upon the drawing 
which you have made, the words apex, whorl, suture, spire, and 
aperture. 

Oral Exercise. 

1. Have you ever seen a winding or spiral staircase ? 

2. Why do some shells remind you of such a staircase? 

3. What is the apex of a shell ? 

4. What is the whorl f the suture ? the spire f 

5. Describe the doorway. Why is it called an aperture? 



158 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



LESSOR X. 

Synonyms. 

The following list contains twenty-four words. It is 
possible to arrange them in eight sets of three words 
each, so that the words in each set shall be synonyms. 
They are very common words, and you will probably be 
able to arrange them without assistance. 



cunning 

knave 

absurd 

mute 

abode 

rogue 



dwelling 

artful 

inform 

lazy 

notify 

diminish 



idle 

lessen 

speechless 

tell 

indolent 

rascal 



sly 

residence 

decrease 

silly 

dumb 

ridiculous 



Use one of each set of words in a sentence. 
Try the same sentence with each of the other words 
in the set, and tell whether the meaning is at all changed. 



l. 
2. 



UESSON XI. 
Verb-forms. 

Make a table of the different forms of the following 
words : 

take 

tear 

throw 

choose 

wear 

To the Teacher. — When the forms are properly arranged, call atten- 
tion to the formation of the words in the second and third columns, 
especially to the dropping of final e when ing is added. Then give 
close and varied practice in the use of the words in the fourth and fifth 
columns. 



LANGUAGE EXEBC1SES. 



159 



LESSON XII. 
Study of a Picture. 




Oral. 

Topics for Study and Conversation. 

1. Describe the foregoing picture, and tell of what great 
event in history it reminds you? 

2. Tell what you know about this event, and of the 
persons and countries connected with it. 

To the Teacher — A written exercise may follow the study of the 
picture. 

LESSON XIII. 
Oral Paraphrase. 

STANZAS FROM WHITTIEK'S POEMS. 

1. A tender child of summers three, 
Seeking her little bed at night, 
Paused on the dark stair timidly. 
"Oil, mother! take my hand," said she, 
"And then the dark will all be light." 

From " The Light That is Felt." 



160 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

2. What matter how the storm behaved? 
What matter how the north wind raved? 
Blow high, blow low, not all its snow 
Could quench our hearth-fire's ruddy glow. 

From "Snow-Bound." 

3. Oh ! for boyhood's time of June, 
Crowding years in one brief noon, 
When all things I heard or saw, 
Me, their master, waited for. 

From "The Barefoot Boy." 

4. O land of lands ! to thee we give 

Our prayers, our hopes, our service free; 

For thee thy sons shall nobly live, 

And at thy need shall die for thee. 

From " Our Country." 

To the Teacher. — The conversation lesson on these stanzas should 
be full and free until the children thoroughly understand what is said 
or implied. Then each pupil may write a paraphrase of one stanza. 

WESSON XIVo 

Information Exercise. 

FRESH-WATER SNAIX-SHELXS (Continued). 

Examine your shell once more. Can you see some deli- 
cate lines running across the outside of the shell from one 
suture to the next? These lines are called lines of growth. 
As the snail grows, it finds that the shell is too small for 
its body; so it adds more and more to the rim of the shell, 
just as rows of bricks are added to a wall to make it higher. 

The snail's shell is a part of the animal. The hard and 
the soft parts of the snail are so connected by muscles 
that the snail cannot leave its house. This grows with the 
other parts of the snail. Of what use is the shell ? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 161 

Drawing Exercise. 

1. Make a sketch of a shell, and write the name of each 
part in its proper place. 

2. Copy the following list of words : 

apex suture lines of growth 

whorl spiral shell 

spire aperture muscle 

3. Use each word in such way as to show your knowledge 
of its meaning. 

4. Write any interesting facts that you have learned 
about shells. 

To the Teacher. — Require the pupils to draw from a shell, if possible. 

LESSON XT. 

Homonyms. 

Each of the following words has two homonyms. Copy 
the words and write the homonyms after each. 

two scent 

pair seize 

rode vein 

reign sew 

To the Teacher. — After the sets of words are completed, ask for defi- 
nitions of the words ; or in case the definitions are not easy to give, ask 
for use in sentences. Then dictate sentences for the children to write, 
using one or more of the foregoing words or their homonyms. Or dic- 
tate sentences, and ask to have certain words written, or spelled orally. 

LESSON XVI. 
Dictation Exercise. 

PROVERBS AND MAXIMS. 

1. Don't cry for spilled milk. 

2, If wishes were horses, beggars might ride. 



162 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

3. It is a long road that has no turning. 

4. Judge not that ye be not judged. 

5. Jack at all trades and good at none. 

6. Make hay while the sun shines. 

7. Do not make a mountain out of a mole-hill. 

8. People who live in glass houses should not throw 
stones. 

9. Necessity is the mother of invention. 

10. Riches have wings. 

11. Strike while the iron is hot. 

12. There is no royal road to learning. 

In studying the foregoing lesson, think what each sen- 
tence means. After writing the sentence, you may be asked 
to tell the full meaning in your own words. 



WESSON XVII. 

Preparation for Composition. 

Some animals that live in the sea are very useful to 
man. You must have studied about them in your Geog- 
raphies. Tell what you have learned about, — 

1. The Seal: where it lives; whether it breathes like a 
fish, or has lungs like a dog. What it feeds on. How 
it is caught. What is made from its skin. For what 
seal-oil is useful. 

2. The Whale: where it lives; whether it breathes like 
fishes, or like land animals ; whether its flesh is good to 
eat ; what is made from its flesh, from its bones ; in what 
part of the whale the most valuable bone is found ; how 
the whale is caught. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 163 

LESSON XVIII. 

Composition. 

Write what you have learned about either the seal or 
the whale. Add some interesting story that you have read 
about the animal. 

LESSON XIX. 

Words frequently Misused. 

Expect for suspect, suppose, or presume. 

Whenever expect is correctly used it refers to future time. 
Remember this fact, and complete the following sentences 
with one of the words at the head of the lesson : 

1. James's mother .... him to return at four p.m. to-morrow. 

2. I . . . . that he has returned already, as I saw a valise in 
the hall. 

3. You have not watered the plants for a week ; I . . . . that 
they are all dead. 

4. Was Charles late at school this morning ? Oh ! I .... so, 
he is almost always late. 

5. I ... . that Alice has finished the painting. 

Use the words correctly in sentences of j^our own. 

Plenty for plentiful. 

The following sentences will show you the correct use of 
the two words : 

We have had plenty of rain this summer. 
The rain this summer has been plentiful. 

Complete the following sentences : 

1. Have you .... of money? 

2. No, money is never .... with me. 

3. Strawberries are cheap when they are .... 

4. How .... the apples are this autumn ! 



164 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

Stop for stay, and stopping for staying. 

To stop is to cease from motion. 
To stay is to remain. 

Complete the following sentences : 

1. The train will .... at the station, and will .... there two 
hours. 

2. George has been .... at his uncle's nearly all winter. 

3. Do not .... on your way east, as you will want to .... 
with me a long time in Boston. 

To the Teacher. — Ask frequently for a correct use of the words in 
such lessons as this. These lessons will be of little use, however, unless 
the errors in the ordinary speech of children are carefully corrected. 

LESSON XX. 
Conversation Exercise. 

THE SUN AND MOON. 

Where does the sun rise? Does it come above the 
horizon at the same point all the year round ? Where 
does it set? Does it set at the same point on the horizon 
all the year round? 

Is it directly over your head at noon? If not, is 
it north or south of you at that time? The point in 
the heavens directly over your head is called the zenith. 
During what month is the sun nearest the zenith at 
noon? During what month is it farthest from the zenith ? 

Does the moon rise and set? Does it rise at the same 
hour every night? What difference in the time of its 
rising have you noticed ? Does the moon always appear 
to be of the same shape? What was its shape when you 
last saw it? The new moon, — its shape, — where first 
seen. The full moon, — its shape, — where first seen. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 165 

LESSON XXI. 

Composition. 

Write what you have learned of the sun and moon, 
making use, if you please, of the questions in Lesson XX. 

To the Teacher. — In connection with your instruction in geography, 
call the attention of the pupils to the apparent motions of the heavenly 
bodies, to their size, distance, appearance, etc. 

Lesson XX. furnishes material enough for several lessons, but for 
obvious reasons it has been thought best not' to divide it. 

LESSON XXII. 

In the following beautiful poem, Mr. Whittier speaks of 
his friend, Henry W. Longfellow, who had recently died. 
Study it carefully and commit it to memory. 

THE POET AND THE CHILDREN. 

1. With the glory of winter sunshine 

Over his locks of gray, 
In the old historic mansion 
He sat on his last birthday, 

2. With his books and his pleasant pictures 

And his household and his kin, 
While a sound as of myriads singing 
From far and near stole in. 

3. It came from his own fair city, 

From the prairie's boundless plain, 
From the Golden Gate of sunset, 
From the cedar woods of Maine. 

4. And his heart grew warm within him, 

And his moistening eyes grew dim, 
For he knew that his country's children 
Were singing the songs of him; 



166 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

5. The lays of his life's glad morning, 

The psalms of his evening time, 
Whose echoes shall float forever 
On the winds of every clime. 

6. All their beautiful consolations, 

Sent forth like birds of cheer, 
Came flocking back to his windows, 
And sang in the poet's ear. 

7. Grateful, but solemn and tender, 

The music rose and fell 
With a joy akin to sadness, 
And a greeting like farewell. 

8. With a sense of awe he listened 

To the voices sweet and young; 
The last of earth and the first of heaven 
Seemed in the songs they sung. 

9. And, waiting a little longer 

For the wonderful change to come, 
He heard the Summoning Angel, 
Who calls God's children home; 

10, And to him in a holier welcome 
Was the mystical meaning given 
Of the words of the blessed Master : 
"Of such is the kingdom of heaven." 



*& v 



To the Teacher. — The study of the foregoing poem should be made 
in connection with a knowledge of the circumstances which caused it 
to be written. 

In addition to poems already suggested, read with the children, 
"Maud Muller," "The Pipes at Lucknow," selections from "Snow- 
Bound," " In School Days," "At Port Royal," " The Pumpkin," " Mabel 
Martin," and " The Sisters." See page 223. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



167 




Chapter Twelve. 



LESSON I. 



Topics for Study and Conversation. 

1. The home where Alice and Phoebe Cary were born. 
" Our Homestead." 

2. Father, mother, and children. 

3. Death of their mother, and the trials which followed. 
"An Order for a Picture." 

4. How they obtained an education. 

5. Their first efforts at writing. Subsequent success. 

6. Going to New York, and the struggles that followed. 
" The Singer," by Whittier. 

7. The home in New York. 

8. Death and burial. "An Invalid's Plea." " Coming 
Home." " Nearer Home." 

9. Life-long devotion of the two sisters for each other. 
10. Other poems besides those mentioned above. 



168 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

IiESSON II. 

Biographical Sketch. 

Arrange notes, and write an account of the lives of Alice 
and Phoebe Cary. Mention as many of the writings of 
each as you have read, naming your favorite j)oem. 

WESSON III. 

Dictation Exercise. 

The following extracts were taken from Alice Gary's 
poems : 

1. The gifts that we have, heaven lends for right using, 

And not for ignoring, and not for abusing. 

2. Not what Ave think, but what we do, 

Makes saints of us. 

3. The day's last splendor fades and dies, 

And shadows one by one arise 
To light the candles of the skies. 

4. Has not God planted every path with flowers 

Whose end is to be fair? 

5. For he who is honest is noble, 

Whatever his fortunes or birth. 

6. Fear often hath no whit of substance in it, 

And lives but just a minute. 

7. Sunset! a hush is on the air, 

Their gray old heads the mountains bare 
As if the winds were saying prayer. . 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 169 

8. Thank God, when other power decays 
And other pleasures die, 
We still may set our dark to-days 
In the light of days gone by. 

To the Teacher. — Follow the dictation exercise with a conversation 
lesson. 

LESSOR IV. 

Reproduction. 

To the Teacher. — Read carefully with the children "The King's 
Jewel," by Phoebe Cary, and after a conversation exercise require the 
story to be written. 

IiESSON V. 

Words often Mispronounced. 

strength singularly bronchitis 

violent sovereign juvenile 

thanksgiving pumpkin reptile 

Caucasian menagerie regularly 

Preparation with Dictionary. 

Copy the words, separating them into syllables, and 
mark the accented syllable in each word. Mark the vowel 
in each syllable so far as you can, and think how the word 
would sound if pronounced according to the marking. 

1. What sound in the first word is liable to be substi- 
tuted for that of ng ? 

2. Sound the vowels in the second word. 

3. Which syllable is accented in the third ? 

4. What sound has a in the accented syllable of the 
fourth ? 

5. Sound the vowels in the fifth. 

6. What sound does o stand for in the sixth ? 

7. Always pronounce the seventh as it is spelled. 



170 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

8, Pronounce the first syllable of the eighth ; the second. 
What sound has a f For what sound does g stand ? 

9, What sound has i in the accented syllable of the 
ninth ? 

10. What sound has i in the tenth and eleventh ? 

11. Sound the vowels in the twelfth. 

12. Pronounce the words with distinctness. 

13. Define each word, or use it in a sentence. 

14. Pronounce the words in Lesson V., Chapter Eleven. 

LESSON VI. 

A Letter. 

Suppose your home to be in Ohio, but on account of 
ill health you have been traveling for several months in 
Mexico. 

1. Make notes from which you can write a letter to your 
brother or sister at home, the letter to contain an account 
of the country, the products, the people, and their homes. 

2. Add whatever you think will be of interest to your 
friends at home. 

3. Write the letter in full. 

To the Teacher. — Be sure that the pupils have obtained the neces- 
sary information before undertaking the letter-writing. The notes 
should be prepared as in previous lessons of this kind. 

LESSON VII. 
Review. 

1. Of what use is language ? 

2. In what ways may we exi:>ress our thoughts? 

3. How does oral language differ from written ? 

4. What is a sentence ? 

5. Of what is a sentence composed? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. Ill 

Uses of Words. 
First oral and then written. 

In the sentences below, tell for what purpose the words 
between the vertical lines are used. 

Model. 

Mary | wore | a pink | ribbon | in her hair. | 
Mary is a word that tells us who wore the ribbon. 
Wore is a word that tells us what Mary did. 
Pink is a word that tells us the kind of ribbon. 
Ribbon is a word that tells us what Mary wore. 
In her hair is a group of words telling where Mary 
wore the ribbon. 

1. John | saw | a cat | in the street. | 

2. The soldiers | fought | bravely | in the battle. | 

3. I | went | to church | one very cold day. | 

4. The pupils | study | their | lessons | diligently. | 

5. The young | lady | plays | the violin. | 

To the Teacher. — Great care should be used in the selection of 
sentences, in order that the pupils may see the purpose for which the 
words are used. Uncommon uses of words, or peculiar expressions, 
should be avoided throughout this grade. Phrases and clauses should 
be taken entire. 

ivesscxn" Tin. 

Dictation Exercise. 

The following extracts were selected from Phoebe Cary's 

poems : 

1. Hard indeed must a man be made 

By the toil and traffic of gain and trade, 

Who loves not the spot where a boy he played. 

2. Life grows better every day 
If we live in deed and truth. 



172 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

3. I ask not wealth, but power to take 

And use the things I have aright; 
Not 3'ears, but wisdom that shall make 
My life a profit and delight. 

4. All obedience worth the name 

Must be prompt and ready. 

5. And never since harvests were ripened 

Or laborers born, 
Have men gathered figs of thistles 
Or grapes of the thorn. 

6. All that's great and good is done 

Just by patient trying. 

7. Gaining victory from defeat, 

That's the test that tries you. 

To the Teacher. — A conversation exercise should follow the writing 
of the foregoing extracts. The dictation may be divided as desired. 

LESSOX IX. 

Reproduction. 

To the Teacher. — Read with the children, and make a careful study 
of, Alice Cary's poem, "An Order for a Picture." Bring vividly 
before the children, the scenes pictured in the poem, and make notes 
or topics for aids in their written reproduction. 

iiEsso^r x. 

Verb-forms. 

To the Teacher. — Assist the children, if necessary, in determining 
the correct forms of the following verbs, and in arranging them in a 
table as in Lesson XIV., Chapter Seven. To many children, some of 
the forms will be entirely new. 

burst forsake show fight swim 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 173 

1. How many different forms of the first word do you 
find? of the fourth? the fifth? 

2. Use in sentences the words that end with n. 

3. Place was before each of the words in your fifth 
column. Use the words thus arranged, in sentences. 

4. Name the derivatives for each word in Lesson XL, 
Chapter Eleven. 

5. Use in sentences all the derivatives that you have 
just named ending in n. 

6. Use in sentences, — took, tore, threw, chose, wore. 

LESSON XI. 
Conversation Exercise. 

SUGAR-MAKING. 

Maple-sugar, — where, and how made. 

Sugar-making in Louisiana, — sugar-cane, — cutting, — 
crushing, — boiling, — molasses. 

Is sugar made from any other sources than those 
mentioned? 

Different kinds of sugar, — uses. 

From what countries does most of our sugar come ? 

Are they cold, or warm, countries ? 

LESSON XII. 

Composition on Sugar-Making. 

Write what you have learned about sugar, adding, to 

the topics above, such others as seem to you important 

or interesting. 

To the Teacher. — Such lessons as the foregoing are intended to 
suggest language- exercises in connection with the usual lessons in 
geography. Be sure that the pupils make a careful study of the whole 
subject before they attempt to write upon it. As has been said many 
times before in this book, an oral lesson should always precede the written. 



174 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

X.ESSON XIII. 

Conversation Exercise. 

PLANTS. 

For what are the plants named below useful ? 

wheat potatoes dates flax 

rice oranges corn grapes 

grass lemons tobacco coffee 

To the Teacher. — Some of the plants named above are useful in 
two or three ways. Be sure that these receive attention in the con- 
versation exercise. Some of the topics may be assigned for study with 
a view to composition writing. In case this is done, topics for study 
should be placed on the blackboard, and the composition should 
follow the order of the topics. 

LESSOR XIV. 
Exercise in Articulation. 

Speak the following combinations of words, carefully 
separating the words in each combination : 

won't you did you did n't you 

can't you could you could n't you 

don't you would you would n't you 

must you had you had n't you 

To the Teacher. — Frequent drill on these combinations of words 
will be very useful. They should at first be spoken slowly, so that the 
articulation may be perfect, and then more rapidly. 

Review. 

Pronounce distinctly the words given in the pronuncia- 
tion exercises of Parts I. and II. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 175 

LESSON XT. 

Oral Paraphrase. 

The following stanzas were selected from Alice Cary's 
poems. Tell their meaning in your own words. 

1. A good many workers I've known in my time, 
Some builders of houses, some builders of rhyme ; 
And they that were prospered, were prospered, I know, 
By the intent and the meaning of "Hoe your own row." 

From " Old Maxims." 

2. To conscience be true, and to man true, 

Keep faith, hope, and love in your breast, 
And when you have done all you can do, 
Why, then, you may trust for the rest. 

From " A Sermon for Young Folks." 

3. So, boy, if you want to be sure of your bread 

Ere the good time of working is gone, 
Brush the cobwebs of nonsense all out of your head, 
And take up your hoe, and move on. 

From "Waiting for Something to Turn Up." 

4. To know the beauty of cleanness 

The heart must be clean and sweet; 
We must love our neighbor to get his love, — 
As we measure he will mete. 

From " Best to the Best." 

5. Look for goodness, look for gladness, 

You will meet them all the while; 
If you bring a smiling visage 
To the glass, you meet a smile. 

From "A Fragment." 

To the Teacher. — See notes of direction on similar lessons in the 
two chapters next preceding this. 



176 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON XVII. 

Information Exercise. 

To the Teacher. — Read with the children the following account of 
the snail, and make it the subject of conversation. For a second lesson, 
prepare notes, and then require the pupils to write an orderly descrip- 
tion of the snail. This exercise should be given during the season 
when it will be possible to obtain the shells from brooks or ditches. 

Before studying the following description of a snaih find 
if possible a live specimen in some brook in the neighbor- 
hood. As you study the description, compare it with the 
snail which you have found, and you may learn much that 
is new to you as well as interesting. 

L.IVE SHELLS. 

Here is a shell with the animal inside. I found it under 
a lily-pad. It is a water-snail. We can see, across the 
aperture, a kind of broad foot. The animal moves about 
by means of this foot. If we watch, we shall see two 
little feelers stretched out from under the shell. These 
are called tentacles, and the snail uses them to feel its way 
along. It has eyes, too, — two little black dots, at the base 
of the tentacles. The mouth is between the tentacles, and 
we might have seen where the snail had made its dinner 
from the side of the lily-pad. The part of the snail that 
has the tentacles, eyes, and mouth is called the head. 

The other end of the snail is fastened to the inside of 
the shell; so it must carry its shell on its back when it 
travels on the lily-pads. It is well that it cannot leave 
the shell at home, for this is its only protection from an 
enemy. The snail breathes air just as we do. If you 
could put this snail into water and watch it, you would 
soon see it coming up to the surface. It brings one edge 
of the aperture to the water's edge; then a little hole 
opens in its side, and the air goes into the lung. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. Ill 

LESSON XVIII. 

A Letter. 

Write a letter from the city of Washington, giving such 
information as you have gained at school, from books and 
papers at home, or from conversation with those who have 
visited the city. 

Topics for Study and Conversation. 

1. The founding of the city. 2. Location, and why named 
Washington. 3, Plan of the city. 4, Public buildings. 5. A 
description of the Capitol and the White House. 6. An account 
of the President's Keception. 

LESSON XIX. 

Oral Paraphrase. 

The following stanzas were selected from Phoebe Cary's 
poems : 

1. Wherever you stay or wherever you roam, 

In the days while you live in clover, 
You should gather your honey and bring it home, 
Because the winter will surely come 

When the summer of life is over. 

From " Hives and Homes." 

2, May you never, never have to say 

When a wave from the past on some dreary day 
Its wrecks at your feet is strewing, 
"My father had not been bowed so low, 
Nor my mother left me long ago, 
But for deeds of my misdoing." 

From " To the Children." 



178 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

3. Do you suppose a book can tell 
Maxims of prudence, half so well 

As the little ant, who is telling 
To man, as she patiently goes and comes,. 
Bearing her precious grains and crumbs, 

How want is kept from the dwelling? 

From " Easy Lessons." 

4, Whatever a story can teach to you 
Of the good a little thing may do, 

The hidden brook is showing, 
Whose quiet way is only seen 
Because of its banks, so fresh and green, 

And the flowers beside it growing. 

From " Easy Lessons." 

IjESSCXN" XX. 

Words expressing Color, Size, and Form. 

1, Write, in a column, a list of ten words that may be 
used in describing the color of objects ; as, red, buff, etc. 

2. After each word in the list, write the name of an 
appropriate object; as, A red rose. 

3. Use the ten groups of words in thonghtful sentences ; 
as, A red rose could be seen in a tiny vase on the shelf. 

4, Write a list of ten words which are names of familiar 
objects. With each of these words connect two others, one 
of which expresses size and the other form; as, An immense, 
flat plain stretched far away towards the north. 

To the Teacher. — Review this lesson frequently until the pupils 
become skillful in connecting nouns with appropriate adjectives; 
then the pupils may use three adjectives (size, form, color) with one 
noun, and afterward expand the group into a sentence. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 179 

LESSON XX. 

Study and commit to memory the following beautiful 
poem by Alice Cary : 

WORK. 

1. Down and up, and up and down, 

Over and over and over ; 
Turn in the little seed, dry and brown, 

Turn out the bright red clover. 
Work, and the sun your work will share, 

And the rain in its time will fall ; 
For Nature, she worketh every-where, 

And the grace of God through all. 

2. With hand on the spade, and heart in the sky, 

Dress the ground and till it; 
Turn in the little seed, brown and dry, 

Turn out the golden millet. 
Work, and your house shall be duly fed ; 

Work, and rest shall be won ; 
I hold that a man had better be dead 

Than alive, when his work is done. 

3. Down and up, and up and down, 

On the hill-top, low in the valley; 
Turn in the little seed, dry and brown, 

Turn out the rose and lily. 
Work with a plan, or without a plan, 

And your ends they shall be shaped true; 
Work, and learn at first hand, like a man, — 

The best way to know is to do. 



180 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

4. Down and up till life shall close, 
Ceasing not your praises ; 
Turn in the mild white winter snows, 

Turn out the sweet spring daisies. 
Work, and the sun your work will share, 

And the rain in its time will fall ; 

For Nature, she worketh every-where, 

And the grace of God through all. 

Alice Cary. 

To the Teacher. — Make a careful study of this beautiful poem; you 
can do nothing better than to impress its fine sentiment. In connec- 
tion with this study, read the poem, "Idle," by the same author. In 
addition to Alice Gary's poems, already suggested in this book, read 
with the children "The Gray Swan," "A Fable of Cloud-Land," 
"Faded Leaves," and "The Cradle Song." See page 223. 

In addition to the poems of Phoebe Cary which have been named 
already, read " The Hero of Fort Wagner," and "Ready." 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 



181 






Chapter Thirteen. 

IiESSON I. 
Topics for Study and Conversation. 

1. Birthplace and family of Oliver Wendell Holmes, 

2, Early home and school life. 



182 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

3. College life and famous classmates. 

4. Studies of law and medicine. 

5. Professorships. 

6. A doctor in Boston, — long practice. 

7. Travels in Europe. 

8. His writings. 

9. His own family. 
10. His age. 

LESSON II. 

Biographical Sketch. 

Write, in an orderly manner, what you have learned 
about Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

Divide your composition into the proper number of 
paragraphs. 

LESSON III. 

Dictation Exercise. 

The following extracts were selected from Holmes's 
poems : 

1. The flowering moments of the mind 
Drop half their petals in our speech. 

2. Day hath put on his jacket, and around 

His burning bosom hath buttoned it with stars. 

3. On all her boughs the stately chestnut cleaves 
The gummy shroud that wraps her embryo leaves. 

4. The crack-brained bobolink courts his crazy mate 
Poised on a bulrush tipsy with his weight. 

5. The sweetest of smiles is the smile when we part, 
When the light round the lips is a ray from the heart. 

6. The outward forms the inner man reveal, — 
We guess the pulp before we cut the peel. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 183 

7. Be firm ! one constant element in luck 
Is genuine, solid, old Teutonic pluck. 

8. And with new notions, — let me change the rule, — 
Don't strike the iron till it's slightly cool. 

To the Teacher. — Follow the dictation with a conversation exercise 
on the meaning of the extracts. 

LESSOR IT. 
Business Letters. 

Business letters differ somewhat from other letters, both 
in form and in contents. The address of such letters 
is more formal, and the contents refer only to matters of 
real business. All matters relating to social or domestic 
affairs should generally be excluded. A business letter 
should be clear and concise, without unnecessary pre- 
liminary remarks or uncalled-for explanations. No more 
words should be used than are necessary ■ nor should any 
essential words be omitted. 

These letters require the same careful attention to 
details as do other letters. The address on the envelope 
should be plainly written, and the writer's own address 
may be printed on the upper left-hand corner. 

Business letters include letters of introduction, letters 
of application, letters of recommendation, mercantile 
letters, etc. 

Oral. 

L How do business letters differ from other letters ? 

2. What is meant by the " address " of a letter ? 

3. What are " social " and " domestic " affairs ? 

4. Give the meaning of the following words, and use 
them in sentences of your own : — excluded, concise, pre- 
liminary, details. 



184 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

« 

5. Mention the different kinds of business letters, and 
explain what you understand by each kind. 

LESSOX V. 
Dictation Exercise. 

John D. Wilson, Esq., Boston, Mass. 

Dear Sir, — Allow me to introduce to you the bearer, 
Mr. Thomas Williams, a graduate of Harvard University, 
who visits your city for the purpose of finding employment 
in connection with some daily newspaper. 

He is a young man of excellent character and superior 
ability. Any assistance you may render him I shall 
esteem as a personal favor. 

Yours very truly, 

Chas. W. Harper. 

You have a schoolmate who wishes to secure a place as 
clerk in a store. Write a letter, introducing him to some 
business man with whom you are acquainted. 

WESSON VI. 
Words often Mispronounced. 

forgetting dishonest whether 

immediately grasses robust 

magazine fairies Chinese 

Jerusalem excursion considerable 

Make careful preparation of this lesson, — in spelling, 
pronunciation, and use of words, as suggested in Lesson V., 
Chapter Twelve. 

1. In the first word, what sound has ef Sound ng. 

2. How many syllables in the second? Sound the 
vowel in each syllable? 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 185 

3. Which syllable is accented in the third ? 

4. Sound the vowels in the fourth ; few people speak 
the word correctly. 

5. What sound has the first s in the fifth ? 

6. In the sixth and seventh, sound the a. 

7. In the eighth, sound the third syllable. 

8. What is the first sound in the ninth ? 

9. In the tenth, which syllable is accented? 

10. Sound the s in the eleventh. 

11. How many syllables in the twelfth ? 

12. Pronounce the words distinctly. 

13. Name the derivatives, and give the root-word of each. 

14. Use the words in sentences. 

15. Pronounce the words in Lesson V., Chapter Twelve. 



LESSON VII. 
Information Exercise. 

FROGS. 

Frogs lay their eggs in the water. Before the egg is 
many days old, it is hatched, and out comes an odd little 
thing with a large head, a long flat tail, and no body at all. 
This is called a tadpole. For a few days it has a tuft of 
soft pink threads on each side of its head. These are the 
gills, which enable the tadpole to breathe in the water. It 
lives the life of a fish, and finds all its food in the water. 
But soon a wonderful change takes place ; its gills disap- 
pear, and lungs form in the chest. After this it can no 
longer breathe in the water, but must rise to the surface 
for air. 

Four legs gradually grow out, and at the same time the 
tail disappears. The animal is now a perfect frog, and 



186 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

spends its time partly on land and partly in the water. In 
winter it crawls into a hole and sleeps there until spring. 

A frog may produce a thousand eggs in a year, but 
scarcely one egg in the thousand produces a young one 
that lives to reach its winter retreat. 

Conversation Exercise. 
Topics for Study and Conversation. 

1. Eggs, — where laid; color, size. 

2. Tadpoles, — description, gills, head, tail. 

3. Describe the changes that take place. 

4. How the frog swims, — how it catches its food. 

5. Winter quarters. 

To the Teacher. — Lessons in Natural History are of little value if 
unaccompanied by observation. When schools are so situated that 
pupils are unable to obtain specimens for examination, pictures or 
blackboard drawings may be made very helpful. 

LESSOR YTII. 

Composition. 

Write what you have learned about the frog, dividing 
your composition into five paragraphs. 

IiESSON IX. 

Synonyms. 

l. Select, and arrange in sets of three each, the synonyms 
in the following list. See Lesson X., Chapter Eleven. 



smell 


uncommon 


impertinent 


sport 


endure 


real 


odor 


saucy 


scarce 


seem 


suffer 


true 


aid 


rude 


rare 


look 


scent 


play 


assist 


appear 


help 


bear 


genuine 


pastime 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 187 

2. Study the words that are synonymous, and find out, 
if possible, how they differ in meaning. 

3. Use the synonyms that differ in meaning in such a 
way as to show the difference. 

LESSOR X. 
Dictation Exercise. 

MAXIMS AND PROVERBS. 

1. Keep your shop and your shop will keep you. 

2. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. 

3. Least said, soonest mended. 

4. Little pitchers have large ears. 

5. One swallow does not make a summer. 

6. Rome was not built in a day. 

7. Silks and satins put out the kitchen fire. 

8. Too many cooks spoil the broth. 

9. Discretion is the better part of valor. 

10. A barking dog never bites. 

11. Lazy folks take the most pains. 

12. Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon over- 
takes it. 

To the Teacher. — After the writing of this lesson and its correction, 
a conversation exercise will follow, of course. Ask for any incident or 
experience which proves the truth of any one of the proverbs. 

LESSON XI. 
Neighborhood Study. 

Topics for Conversation. 

1. Places one mile distant from your school-house ; two 
miles ; five miles ; ten miles. 

2. Public conveyances, — stages, horse-cars, steam-cars. 

3. Parts of the neighborhood that are level, hilly, mount- 
ainous. 



188 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

4. Water in the vicinity, — brooks, rivers, ponds, lakes, 
and with what other waters they are connected. 

To the Teacher. — This and similar lessons may be followed by a 
written composition. 

LESSON XII. 
Oral Paraphrase or Conversation. 

The following stanzas were selected from Holmes's 
poems : 

1. Slowly the mist o'er the meadow was creeping, 

Bright on the dewy buds glistened the sun, 
When from his couch, while his children were sleeping, 
Rose the bold rebel and shouldered his gun. 

From " Lexington." 

2. The sun stepped down from his golden throne, 

And lay in the silent sea, 
And the lily had folded her satin leaves, 

For a sleepy thing "was she; 
What is the lily dreaming of? 

Why crisp the w T aters blue? 
See, see, she has lifted her varnished lid ! 

Her white leaves are glistening through. 

From "The Star and the Lily." 

3. Welcome to the day returning, 

Dearer still as ages flow, 
While the torch of faith is burning 

Long as Freedom's altars glow! 
See the hero whom it gave us, 

Slumbering on a mother's breast; 
For the arm he stretched to save us, 

Be its morn forever blest! 

From " Ode for Washington's Birthday." 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 189 

4. This is the ship of pearl, which poets feign 

Sails the unshadowed main, — 
The venturous bark that flings 
On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings 
In gulfe enchanted, where the siren sings, 

And coral reefe lie bare, 

Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming 

hair." 

From " The Chambered Nautilus." 

To the Teacher. — See notes on similar lessons in preceding chapters. 

LESSON XIII. 
Review. 

Review Lessons I. and II., Chapter Six. 

When direct quotations are complete statements they should 
begin with capital letters ; but if the quotation is an incomplete 
statement, the capital is frequently omitted. 

It is usual to make complete paragraphs of long quota- 
tions from books or letters. 

Double marks are generally used for a quotation ; but 
single marks ( ' ' ) are used when one quotation occurs 
within another. 

Dictation Exercise. 

1. It has been well said, " The tongue is a little member 
and boasteth great things." 

2. " The question now is," said he, " how shall we know 
what are good books ? " 

3. Whittier's story, " The Rattlesnake Hunter," is based 
upon fact. 

4. "Be ready to come when I call you," said his mother. 

5. In the preceding sentence, the words " said his 
mother, " should not be enclosed by quotation marks. 



190 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

6. " On one occasion," says Whittier, " I was told that a 
foreigner had applied to my mother for lodging. ' What 
if a son of mine were in a strange land ? ' she said to 
herself." 

Notice that the quotations are separated from the rest 
of the sentence by marks of punctuation. 

WESSON XIV. 

Preparation for Letter-Writing, 

Topics for Conversation. 

1. What is the longest or the most interesting journey 
you ever made ? 

2. How did you go ? Describe the route. 

3. Did you meet any pleasant people on the way ? Did 
you meet any who were not pleasant? Tell all about 
them. 

4. If you met with any accident, or had any trouble 
about your baggage, describe it. 

5. Describe the country through which you passed. 
Was it level or hilly? Did you see any mountains? any 
rivers ? If so, describe them. 

6. What did you observe that made you think the 
people were prosperous, or otherwise? 

To the Teacher. — These "journeys" may be purely imaginary; but 
if so, a conversation exercise should precede the written work, and sug- 
gestive notes should be placed on the blackboard to assist the pupils. 

IjESSON" XT. 

Letter. 

Write a letter to your teacher from such topics in 
Lesson XIV. as you think would be most interesting. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 191 

Combine with this account such descriptions of persons 
and places as will give a pleasant variety to your letter. 
Draw and direct the envelope. 

To the Teacher. — Allow the pupils occasionally to enclose their 
letters in real envelopes, and to direct and deliver them. 

IiESSOJN" XVI. 

Verb-forms. 

The correct use of the following words is as difficult 
as anything that children have to learn in English. The 
boy or girl who is willing to give them close thought and 
careful use can conquer them within a few days. 



sit 


sits 


sitting 


sat 


sat 


set 


sets 


setting 


set 


set 


lie 


lies 


lying 


lay 


lain 


lay 


lays 


laying 


laid 


laid 



To the Teacher. — Require much oral practice in the use of these 
words to describe actions seen in the school-room, and review the 
lesson frequently. After oral drill, give written exercises similar to 
the following: — 

Complete the following sentences with words chosen 
from the table above : 

1. I ... . the pointer on the table. It is .... there now. 

2. . . . . the chair on the floor, and .... down in it. I am .... 
in it, and have .... here an hour. 

3. Charles is ... . his overcoat on my desk. I am willing 
that it should .... there. 

4. Mary .... in bed this morning until eight o'clock. If she 
had .... there much longer she would have missed her break- 
fast. 

5. Where does the snow .... on the ground all the year? 



192 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

6. I have .... still five minutes ; I can not .... still any 
longer. 

7. The dog is ... . near the fire. 

8. The baby .... her head on the dog, and there she .... 
now fast asleep. 

LESSON XVII. 
Dictation Exercise. 

Boston, Nov. 19, 1888. 
Messrs. Jordan, Marsh & Co. 

Gentlemen, — I learn from an advertisement in the 
Transcript that you are in want of an assistant book-keeper. 
Having had considerable experience as book-keeper in a 
large house in New York, I beg leave to offer myself to you 
for the position. 

I am able to show you papers from my late employers, 
vouching for my ability and for my integrity. Will you 
be so kind as to name a time when I may venture to ask 
a personal interview ? 

Very respectfully yours, 

Madison K. Bartlett. 
Write an application for employment to some business 
man in the neighborhood. State your qualifications and 
give references. 

LESSON XVIII. 

Uses of Words. 

First oral and then written,. 

Tell the uses of the words between the vertical lines in 
the following sentences. See Lesson VII., Chapter Twelve. 

1. The cargo | was thrown overboard | during the 
storm. | 

2. Professor Miles | gave | an excellent | lesson | in geog- 
raphy. | 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 193 

3. The boy | who always tells the truth, | will be loved | 
by all. | 

4. I I saw | the man | who fell from the third-story 
window. | 

5. The teacher | selected | the slate | which was on 
John's desk. | 

6. Mary | told | me | that she was going home. | 

7. The knife | which you gave me | lies | on the desk. | 

8. The letter | that you wrote last | Wednesday 
reached | me | to-day. | 

To the Teacher. — After the pupils have learned what clauses are 
used for as tvholes, they may be required to tell the use of words 
selected from them. 

IiESSO]^ XIX. 

Reproduction. 

To the Teacher. — Read with the children Holmes's "Ballad of the 
Boston Tea- Party." Tell them about the " Old South" meeting-house, 
and the famous meeting held there just before the " party." Tell them 
about the "Indians," who they really were, and what they did. 

For a second lesson, make notes, and have a written account of the 
incident and the poem. 

IiESSOlS" XX. 

Homonyms. 

Opposite each of the following words, write its homo- 
nym : 

eight .... bade .... dyeing 

plain .... berth .... feat .... 

pour .... ceiling .... guilt .... 

assent .... draught .... hale .... 

l. Define the given words or use them in sentences 



194 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

2. Define the words you have supplied, or use them in 
sentences. 

3. Define or use in sentences the words given in Lesson 
XV., Chapter Eleven. 

IiESSON XXI. 

Study and commit to memory the following poem, by 
Oliver Wendell Holmes. It should be an inspiration to 
boys and girls. 

UNION AND LIBERTY. 

1. Flag of the heroes who left us their glory, 

Borne through their battle-fields' thunder and flame, 
Blazoned in song and illumined in story, 
Wave o'er us all who inherit their fame ! 
Chorus : Up with our banner bright, 
Sprinkled with starry light, 
Spread its fair emblems from mountain to shore, 
While through the sounding sky, 
Loud rings the Nation's cry, — 
Union and Liberty! Oxe Evermore! 

2. Light of our firmament, guide of our Nation, 

Pride of her children, and honored afar, 
Let the wide beams of thy full constellation 
Scatter each cloud that would darken a star! 
Chorus : — 

3. Empire unsceptered ! what foe shall assail thee, 

Bearing the standard of Liberty's van ? 
Think not the God of thy fathers shall fail thee, 
Striving with men for the birthright of man. 
Chorus : — 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 195 

4. Yet if, by madness and treachery blighted, 

Dawns the dark hour when the sword thou must draw, 
Then with the arms of thy millions united, 
Smite the bold traitors to Freedom and Law! 
Chorus : — 

5. Lord of the Universe ! shield us and guide us, 

Trusting Thee always, through shadow and sun ! 
Thou hast united us, who shall divide us ? 
Keep us, O keep us the Many in One. 
Chorus : — 

To the Teacher. — A poem so full of noble patriotism as the fore- 
going is worthy of careful study and thought. A spirited exercise may 
be conducted by having the several stanzas recited by single pupils, 
and the chorus in a rousing manner by the entire school. 

Holmes's poem, " A Hymn of Peace," may well be sung to Keller's 
" American Hymn " by every school-boy and girl in America. 

In addition to the poems suggested in Chapter Nine, read with the 
children, and talk about, " The Dorchester Giant," " Dorothy Q," " God 
Save the Flag," " The Last Leaf," " Old Ironsides," and "The Comet." 
See page 223. 



196 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES, 




J/^^c^^^ 



Chapter Fourteen. 

WESSON I. 
Topics for Study and Conversation. 

1. Birthplace and home circle of James Russell Lowell. 

2. School life. 

3. College life. 

4. Law studies. Why he left the law. 
6. Editor of the Atlantic Monthly. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 197 

6, Professor at Harvard University. 

7. Minister to Spain and to GreafBritain. 

8. His own home at "Elmwood," and his family. Long- 
fellow's poem, "The Two Angels." 

9, Some of Lowell's poems. 

LESSOR II. 
Biographical Sketch. 

Write a sketch of the life and writings of James Russell 
Lowell, using some or all of the topics in Lesson I. This 
work will be much easier if, before writing, you make full 
notes of your study of the topics in the previous lesson. 

LESSOR III. 
Dictation and Conversation Exercise. 

The following extracts were selected from Lowell's 
poems : 

1. A little of thy steadfastness 
Rounded with leafy gracefulness, 

Old oak, give me. 

2. Glorious fountain! Let my heart be 
Fresh, changeful, constant, upward, like thee. 

3. 'Tis heaven alone that is given away, 
'Tis only God may be had for the asking. 

4. Life is a leaf of paper white 
Whereon each of us may write 

His word or two, and then comes night. 

5. The Holy Supper is kept indeed 

In whatso we share with another's need. 



198 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

6. He's true to God, who's true to man. 

7. How strange are the freaks of memory! 

The lessons of life we forget, 
While a trifle, a trick of color, 
In the wonderful web we set. 

8. The maple puts her corals on in May, 
While loitering frosts about the lowlands cling. 

WESSON IV. 

Reproduction. 

To the Teacher. — Read with the children Lowell's poem, "The 
Singing Leaves." A good understanding of the poem may require 
two or three readings, which should of course be accompanied with 
conversation and explanation. Require the pupils to include one or 
more extracts from the poem in the written reproduction of the story. 

I^ESSO]^ V. 

Dictation Exercise. 

INFORMAL NOTE OF INVITATION. 

My Dear Harry, — 

Next Wednesday will be my birthday, and I propose 

to invite a few choice friends to celebrate the event w T ith 

me in the evening. Will you come ? 

Yours sincerely, 

Joe. 
4417 Rose Av., Chicago. 

FORMAL, NOTE OF INVITATION. 

Mrs. Henry B. Wallace requests the pleasure of Mr. and 
Mrs. A. P. Stuart's company, Wednesday, June 16, from 
seven to ten o'clock. 

245 Forest Av., Cambridge. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 199 

1. Write an informal note of invitation to some friend 
to dine with you at five o'clock next Wednesday afternoon. 

2, Write a formal note of invitation to some acquaint- 
ance to attend a concert with you next Thursday evening. 

LESSOR VI. 

Neighborhood Study. 

Topics for Study and Conversation. 

1. Soil, — loam, sand, gravel, clay; which are found on 
the surface ; which underneath. Some of the uses of the 
different kinds of soil. 

2. Rocks, — where found; different kinds ; uses. 

3. Are there any mines of coal or iron in the neighbor- 
hood? Any quarries of stone? Uses of the different 
minerals. 

4. Animals, wild and domestic. Uses of these animals. 

To the Teacher. — Such lessons as the preceding require close ob- 
servation on the part of the pupils, but it should be under the direc- 
tion of the teacher. The habit of observation cannot be too carefully 
formed. 

liESSOX VII. 
Notes of Invitation, etc. 

1. Your birthday comes soon, and your mother has 
promised you a birthday party. Write a note of invita- 
tion to some friend whom you wish to be present. 

2. Write an answer accepting the invitation. 

3. Write an answer giving a reason for declining. 

4. You have received, by express, from your uncle a 
beautiful Christmas-box containing several things that you 
have long wanted. Write a letter of thanks. 



200 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON VIII. 

"Who and Which. 

Rewrite the following sentences, inserting who or which, 
and such other words as may be necessary, after each 
italicized word. 

Model. 

The tree is one hundred years old. 

The tree which stands on the corner is one hundred 
years old. 

1. It was General Grant. 

2. My friend is now in New York. 

3. This lesson is very difficult. 

4. The boy will become a good man. 

5. I cut down the tree. 

6. The dog caught the rabbit, 
l, The dog caught the rabbit, 
a. The dog caught the rabbit. 

Complete the following sentences : 

1. My older brother whom .... 

2. I saw the old man to whom .... 

3. Have you seen the girl whom .... 

LESSON IX. 

Study and commit to memory the following stanzas 
selected from one of Lowell's poems : 

SUMMER. 

1. What is so rare as a day in June? 
Then, if ever, come perfect days; 
Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune, 
And over it softly her warm ear lays. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 201 

Whether we look or whether we listen, 

We hear life murmur or see it glisten; 
Every clod feels a stir of might, 

An instinct within it which reaches and towers, 
And, groping blindly above it for light, 

Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers. 

2. The flush of life may well be seen 

Thrilling back over hills and valleys; 
The cowslip startles in meadows green, 

The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice, 
And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean 

To be some happy creature's palace. 

3. The little bird sits at his door in the sun 

Atilt like a blossom among the leaves, 
And lets his illumined being o'errun 

With the deluge of summer it receives; 
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings, 
And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings; 

He sings to the wide world and she to her nest; — 

In the nice ear of nature, which song is the best? 

4. The breeze comes whispering in our ear, 
That dandelions are blossoming near, 

That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing, 

That the river is bluer than the sky, 

That the robin is plastering his home hard by; 
And if the breeze kept the good news back, 
For other couriers we should not lack ; 

We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowing, — 
And hark ! how clear bold chanticleer, 
Warmed with the new wine of the year, 

Tells all in his lusty crowing ! 

From " The Vision of Sir Launfal." 



202 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

Words often Mispronounced. 

admirable architect envelop 

area alpaca envelope 

avalanche archipelago exquisite 

barbarous Caribbean granary 

After careful preparation with the Dictionary, answer 
the following questions: 

1. In the first word, which syllable is accented ? What 
is the root-word ? 

2. Which syllable is accented in the second? Sound 
the vowels, and name the vowel sounds. 

3. In the third, what sound has ch f Which syllable 
is accented ? Sound a in the accented S3 T llable. 

4. Sound each syllable in the fourth. 

5. Sound ch in the fifth. Sound the first syllable. 
Sound the last syllable. Sound the i. 

6. How many syllables in the sixth ? 

7. Sound each vowel in the seventh. Sound ch. 

8. Which is the accented syllable in the eighth ? Notice 
the spelling. 

9. See how much you can find out about the ninth and 
tenth. 

10. Which syllable are you to accent in the eleventh ? 
Be sure to do so. 

11. What sound has a in the accented syllable of the 
twelfth? What is the root of the twelfth? 

12. After the words have been pronounced, write them, 
separating each into syllables and marking the accent. 

13. Define the words or use them in oral sentences. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 203 

LESSON XI. 
Letter from Florida. 

Assume that you were an invalid, and went to Florida 
in December. You improved rapidly in health, so that 
you were able to spend most of your time very pleasantly 
out-of-doors. In April you wrote a letter from Florida, to 
a friend in your native State, from the topics below. 

Reproduce the letter in full. 

1. Reasons for going to Florida. 

2. The climate there in winter. 

3. Vegetation and fruits. 

4. How the time was spent. 

5. You expect to return in May, and you speak of the 
contrast that will appear. 

liESSOX XII. 

Uses of Words. 

First oral and then 'written. 

Tell the use of the words and phrases between the verti- 
cal lines in the following selection : 

Nail | to the mast | her | holy | flag, | 

Set | every | threadbare | sail, | 
And give | her | to the god | of storms, | 

The lightning | and | the gale ! | 

1. Which words in the selection are nouns ? 

2. Which nouns are singular ? 

3. Which nouns are plural ? 

4. Use each noun in the opposite number? 

5. Review Lessons XII. and XIII. in Chapter Three. 



204 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSOR XIII. 
Dictation Exercise. 

PROVERBS. 

1. Never judge a book by its cover. 

2. Wisdom is better than rubies. 

3. A wise son maketh a glad father. 

4. He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it. 

5. The way of the transgressor is hard. 

6. A soft answer turneth away wrath. 

7. A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. 

8. Wine is a mocker ; strong drink is raging. 

9. Doing nothing is doing ill. 

10. Never make a mountain out of a mole-hill, 

n. Every fool will be meddling. 

12. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. 

13. He is a poor workman that quarrels with his tools. 

14. United we stand, divided we fall. 

To the Teacher. — If possible, secure the writing of each sentence 
from a single reading. An occasional caution will secure correct 
capitals and punctuation. 

No material could be better for a conversation exercise than that 
in the foregoing lesson. 

MJSSCXN" XIV. 

Business Letters. 

1. Write a letter of recommendation for a personal friend. 

2. Write an application for a position as teacher in a 
neighboring town. 

3. Write a note of thanks for some favor received. 

4. Write to a friend, extending an invitation to dine 
with you. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 205 

liESSOK XV. 

Words often Misused. 

Some for sometvliat. 

The following sentences indicate the correct use of the 
words in italics : 

Some of the boys are very noisy to-day. 
My father is somewhat better this morning. 

Complete the following sentences : 

You came to church .... late last Sunday. 
Is that boy tired ? No, but he is .... lazy. 

Quantity for number. 

We should use number in speaking of things that may 
be counted; as, a number of sheep, a number of cattle. We 
say, a quantity of oats, a quantity of hay. 

1. Use the word number in three different sentences. 

2. Use quantity in three different sentences. 

Only. 

The difficulty in using only arises from not knowing 
where to place it in a sentence. 

Notice and explain the different meanings conveyed by 
the word only in the following sentences : 

1. Only the boy snatched the apple. 

2. The boy only snatched the apple. 

3. The boy snatched only the apple. 

In the following sentences use only in as many different 
places as possible, and explain the changes in meaning : 

1. My sister read the Bible this morning. 

2. Little George hit his brother in the eye. 

3. Boys and girls whisper in school. 



206 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSOR XVI. 
Oral Paraphrase or Conversation. 

The following choice stanzas were selected from Lowell's 
poems : 

1. poor man's son! scorn not thy state; 

There is worse weariness than thine, 
In merely being rich and great. 

Toil only gives the soul to shine 

And makes rest fragrant and benign ; 
A heritage, it seems to me, 

Worth being poor to hold in fee. 

From " The Heritage." 

» 

2. Let fraud and wrong and baseness shiver, 

For still between them and the sky 
The falcon, Truth, hangs poised forever, 
And marks them with his vengeful eye. 

From "The Falcon." 

3. They are slaves who fear to speak 
For the fallen and the weak; 

They are slaves who will not choose 

Hatred, scoffing, and abuse, 
Rather than in silence shrink 
From the truth they needs must think ; 

They are slaves who dare not be 

In the right with two or three. 

From "Stanzas on Freedom." 

4. Ah ! let us hope that to our praise 

Good God not only reckons 
The moments when we tread his ways, 
But when the spirit beckons, — 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 207 

That some slight good is also wrought 

Beyond self-satisfaction, 

When we are simply good in thought, 

Howe'er we fail in action. 

From " Longing." 

IiESSON" XVII. 

Classification. 

Make a list of things that are — 

sweet salt oily delicious 

acid spicy sour fragrant 

bitter crisp tart poisonous 

Name several things which are made from the following 
materials : 

glass cloth tin lime 

wood paper lead flour 

iron wool horn steel 

To the Teacher. — The answers should be well-constructed sentences. 

LESSON XVIII. 

Classification (Continued). 

You have already learned to classify things as animal, 
vegetable, or mineral. A horse is an animal, a potato is 
a vegetable, and a stone is a mineral. Some things grow; 
as trees, fruits, flowers, etc. These' are called natural 
products. Some things are made by hand or by ma- 
chinery ; as boots, furniture, pictures, etc. .Such things 
are manufactured products. 

1. In the second list in Lesson XVII., which things are 
natural products and which are manufactured ? 

2, Select the manufactured products from the list, and 
tell of what and hoiv they are made. 



208 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

LESSON XIX. 
Preparation for Composition. 

COAI.. 

Topics for Study and Conversation. 

1, Different kinds of eoal. 

2, Coal-mining. 

3, Anthracite and bituminous coal, — how do they 
differ? In what parts of the country are they found? 

4, Franklin coal, — cannel coal; why so called? 

5, When coal was first used for fuel. 

6, Gas manufactured from coal. Coke. 

7, Charcoal, — how made, — its use. 

LESSON XX. 

Composition. 

Write what you have learned about coal, using the 
topics in Lesson XIX. in the order given. 

LESSON XXI. 

Study and commit to memory the following stanzas 
selected from one of Lowell's poems: 

WINTER. 

1. Down swept the chill wind from the mountain peak, 

From the snow five thousand summers old; 
On open world and hill-top bleak 

It had gathered all the cold, 
And whirled it like sleet on the wanderer's cheek ; 

It carried a shiver everywhere 

From the unleafed boughs and the pastures bare; 

2. The little brook heard it, and built a roof 

'Neath which he could house him winter-proof. 
All night by the white star's frosty gleams 
He groined his arches and matched his beams; 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 209 

Slender and clear were his crystal spars 
As the lashes of light that trim the stars ; 

3. He sculptured every summer delight 

In his halls and chambers out of sight ; 
Sometimes his tinkling waters slipt 
Down through a frost-leaved forest crypt, 

Long, sparkling aisles of steel-stemmed trees 

Bending to counterfeit a breeze. 

4. Sometimes the roof no fretwork knew 

But silvery mosses that downward grew; 
Sometimes it was carved in sharp relief 
With quaint arabesques of ice-fern leaf; 

Sometimes it was simply smooth and clear 

For the gladness of heaven to shine through, and here 
He had caught the nodding bulrush-tops 
And hung them thickly with diamond drops 

That crystalled the beams of moon and sun 
And made a diamond of every one. 

6. No mortal builder's most rare device 
Could match this winter-palace of ice. 
'Twas as if every image that mirrored lay 
In his depths serene through the summer day, 
Each fleeting shadow of earth and sky, 
Lest the happy model should be lost, 
Had been mimicked in fairy masonry 
By the elfin builders of the frost. 

From " The Vision of Sir Launfal." 

To the Teacher. — It is hoped that the teacher will read with the 
pupils the whole of "The Vision of Sir Launfal." The poem has 
no superior, whether we consider beauty of expression or the lesson 
.taught. See note at the close of Chapter Five. 



210 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 




Chapter Fifteen. 

LESSOR I. 
Topics for Study and Conversation. 

1. Birthplace and home circle of William Cullen 
Bryant. 

2. Boyhood. 

3. School life. Wonderful progress. 

4. Short college life, and reasons therefor. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 211 

5. Early writings. 

6. Professional studies. 

7. Editorial work. 

8. His travels. 

9. His homes. 

10, His death and burial. His age. 

LESSON II. 
Biographical Sketch. 

Make notes of your study of the topics in Lesson 
I., and then write an account of the life and writings of 
Mr. Bryant. Divide your composition into paragraphs. 

LESSON III. 

Dictation Exercise. 

The following verses were selected from Bryant's poems. 
Study them carefully, and find out their meaning. 

1. The groves were God's first temples. 

All that tread 

2. The globe are but a handful to the tribes 
That slumber in its bosom. 

3. Loveliest of lovely things are they 
On earth that soonest pass away. 

4. Innocent child and snow-white flower! 
Well ye are paired in your opening hour. 

5. When you can pipe that merry old strain, 
Robert of Lincoln, come back again. 

6. The maples redden in the sun; 

In autumn gold the beeches stand. 



212 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

7. These gay idlers, the butterflies, 
Broke to-day from their winter shroud. 

8. On woodlands ruddy with autumn 
The amber sunshine lies. 

To the Teacher. — A conversation exercise should follow or precede 
the writing of these extracts. 

LESSON IV. 

Supplementary Reading. 

In these Language Exercises you have frequently been 
asked to read and to study poems, and then to express in 
your own words the ideas that you had gained from the 
reading and study. These poems are thought to be among 
the best productions of American poets. 

Besides books of poems, there are many other books 
well worth your reading. No doubt you have read many 
that are excellent, and can remember much that you have 
read. 

1. Make a list of the titles of books which you have read 
within six months. 

2. Write a short account of the book with which you are 
most familiar. 

To the Teacher. — Arrange the names of the pupils alphabetically 
in a blank-book, and under each name note the books and papers that 
have been read by the pupils recently. For this purpose, pupils may 
make a weekly report to the teacher. Thus, a careful watch can be kept 
over the pupils' reading, and opportunity will be given for valuable 
suggestions as to good books for future use. 

At least one half hour each week should be set apart for conversa- 
tion with pupils upon the books and papers they are reading. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 213 

LESSON V. 
Neighborhood Study. 

Topics for Conversation. 

1. Vegetables, including trees ; kinds and uses. 

2. Wild flowers, names and description. 

3. Business of the people; farming; different kinds of 
manufactures; trade or commerce. 

4. Beautiful scenery ; describe it. Tell in what its beauty 
consists. 

5. Public buildings or other works of art, such as monu- 
ments, statues, etc. 

To the Teacher. — Such lessons as the above may be made interest- 
ing and profitable, if the pupils are led to observe carefully, and to 
make orderly reports of what they have learned. 

It may be necessary to divide such lessons as this into two or three, 
in order to give the pupils more time to investigate the different 
subjects. 

LESSON VI. 

Composition. 

Write upon one or more of the topics given in the pre- 
ceding lesson, giving a full and interesting account of what 
you have learned and how you learned it. 

LESSON VII. 

Review Exercise. 

The following words are selected from certain lessons 
already learned. First tell from what root-word each is 
derived, and then use the root-word in a sentence. 



broken 


gone 


frozen 


blown 


done 


given 


fallen 


shaken 


bitten 


drawn 


seen 


spoken 


eaten 


flown 


written 


stolen 


driven 


forgotten 


grown 


taken 



214 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

You will notice that the words all end in n or the sound 
of n. What can you tell about the use of such words ? 
Can you name the five forms of which each word in the 

foregoing list is one? 

LESSOR VIII. 

Historical Letter. 

To the Teacher. — Read the story of the battle of Lexington to the 
children. Make it as graphic as possible, so that the pupils will form 
a mental picture of the route from Boston to Lexington which was fol- 
lowed by the British. Let them picture the farm-houses on the route, 
the country people leaving their work to watch the soldiers, — the men 
and older boys taking their guns and following through the woods and 
fields, — the scene on Lexington Common, — the destruction of the 
stores in Concord, — the retreat to Boston, — the Americans hiding 
behind walls, trees, and houses, and firing upon the British soldiers. 
Also read Bryant's stirring poem, "Seventy-Six," Holmes's "Lexing- 
ton," and Longfellow's " Paul Revere." Then, with the pupils, prepare 
notes from which the letter may be written. 

Suppose you were living near Lexington on the 19th of 
April, 1775, and saw all that has been described to you in 
the story of the battle of Lexington. Write a letter to your 
cousin living in England, and give an account of what 
you saw and heard on that memorable day. 

WESSON IX. 
Conversation Exercise. 

1. Find out all that you can about metals from your 
own observation, from books, from your teacher, and from 
any other source possible. 

2. Use the following notes and such others as you may 
wish to add : 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES 215 

What are metals ? Different kinds. Where found? 

One of the most common. Some of its qualities. Some of the 
uses of this metal. 

If this metal could not be obtained, what other metal might 
take its place ? Why ? 

3. Write what you have learned, arranging your work 
in an orderly manner. 







LESSON" X. 






"Words 


often Mispronounced. 


heroine 




genuine 


preventive 


heroism 




national 


rational 


docile 




patriotic 


lamentable 


impious 




patriotism 


hospitable 



Make careful preparation of the spelling, pronunciation, 
and meaning of the words in the foregoing list. Copy 
the words, separating them into syllables, and mark the 
vowel sounds. The following will indicate errors in pro- 
nunciation to be guarded against : 

1. Sound the vowel in the first and in the third syllable 
of the first and second words of the foregoing list. 

2. What sound has the vowel in each syllable of the 
third ? 

3. Pronounce the accented syllable of the fourth. 
Sound i in the second syllable. 

4. Sound the i in the fifth word? 

6. Sound the vowel in the first syllable of the sixth. 

6, Sound the a in the seventh and eighth. Which syl- 
lable is accented in each ? 

7, How many syllables in the ninth ? 

8, Sound the a in the first syllable of the tenth. 



216 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

9. Which syllable is accented in the eleventh ? Sound 
the vowel in the accented syllable. 

10. Sound the accented syllable in the twelfth ? 

11. Name the primitive words in the first, second, fourth, 
sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and eleventh. 

12. Pronounce the primitive and then the derivative 
of each word called for in question eleven. 

13. Define each word and use it in a sentence. 

iiEssoisr xi. 

Composition. 

To the Teacher. — Read with the children Bryant's beautiful poem, 
" Robert of Lincoln." See how much they can learn from the poem 
of the life, habits, and character of the bobolink. After the discussion 
of the poem, read Irving's sketch on the same subject. Then have 
a composition written, each pupil to introduce one or more extracts 
from the poem. 

LESSOR XII. 

Uses of "Words. 

First oral and then written. 

1. Tell the uses of the words and phrases between the 
vertical lines in the following selection : 

"I can" | climbs | to the mountain-top, | 
And | plows | the billowy | main ; | 
He | lifts | the hammer | in the shop, | 
And | drives | the saw | and | plane, j 

2. What two words are used as one name ? 

3. What word is used instead of a name ? 

4. What is the name for which it is used ? 

5. Select all the nouns and write them in the opposite 
number. 

6. Add an apostrophe and the letter s to mountain, and 
use the word in that form in a sentence. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 217 

WESSON XIII. 
Historical Letter. 

To the Teacher. — Read to the pupils, from some good history, the 
story of the " Landing of the Pilgrims," and read Bryant's poem, "The 
Twenty-Second of December." Tell them about the " Mayflower," 
and some of the most noted persons who came in that vessel ; also of 
their sufferings during the first winter. Finally, read with the pupils 
"The Courtship of Miles Standish." 

At a subsequent lesson, require them to make notes of what they 
have learned about the Pilgrims. 

1. Suppose yourself to have been one of the " Pilgrims," 
and that you were one of the soldiers who fought under 
the leadership of Miles Standish. 

2. Write a letter to some friend in England, giving an 
account of your experiences. 

LESSON XIV. 
Telegrams. 

The cost of sending a telegram depends upon the num- 
ber of words in it. The words in the heading, address, and 
signature, are not counted as parts of the telegram. 

In writing telegrams, be sure to express your ideas 
clearly and in the fewest words possible. Unimportant 
words are usually omitted. 

The following despatch was recently received : 

" Cars off track. None hurt. Shall be two hours late." 

This means, " The cars are off the track, but no one is 
hurt. I shall be at home two hours later than I expected." 

This telegram cost 25 cents. If it had been sent in the 
second form, the expense would have been much greater. 

Write from the notes below, telegrams of not more than 
ten words each : 

l. You want ten copies of Charles Dickens's " Pickwick 
Papers " forwarded from Harper & Brothers, New York, to 
your store in Boston. 



218 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

2. Engage a state-room on board a steamer that leaves 
Fall River for New York to-night, 

3. You have unexpectedly met an old acquaintance, 
and have invited him to dine with you at home. Send a 
telegram to your mother informing her of the fact. 

4. Telegraph to your brother, asking him to meet you. 
Name time and place. 

5. You have just reached Liverpool, after a stormy 
voyage of ten days. Send by cable a telegram of fewer than 
five words, informing your friends of your safe arrival. 

LESSON XV. 

1. Write a connected account of the way in which you 
spent your last vacation. 

2. Make and arrange your notes without help. 

To the Teacher. — The object of this lesson is to find out whether the 
pupils have profited by their instruction in composition-writing. 

I/ESSON XVI. 
Oral Paraphrase or Conversation. 

The following stanzas were taken from Bryant's poems : 

1. Cool shades and dews are round my w r ay, 
And silence of the early day; 

'Mid the dark rocks that watch his bed, 
Glitters the mighty Hudson, spread 
Unrippled, save by drops that fall 
From shrubs that fringe his mountain wall; 
And o'er the clear still water swells 
The music of the Sabbath bells. 

From " A Scene on the Banks of the Hudson." 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 219 

2, The bluebird chants from the elm's long branches, 

A hymn to welcome the budding year. 
The south wind wanders from field to forest, 
And softly whispers, "The Spring is here." 

From "An Invitation to the Country." 

3. The breath of spring-time at this twilight hour 

Comes through the gathering gloom, 
And bears the stolen sweets of many a flower 
Into my silent room. 

From "May Evening." 

4, New are the leaves on the oaken spray, 

New the blades of the silky grass ; 
Flowers that were buds but yesterday, 
Peep from the ground where'er I pass. 

From " The Old and the New." 

5. Wild was the day; the wintry sea 

Moaned sadly on New England's strand, 
When first the thoughtful and the free, 
Our fathers, trod the desert land. 

From " The Twenty-Second of December." 

To the Teacher. — See Lesson XVII., Chapter Nine. 

LESSON XVII. 

Advertisements. 

To the Teacher. — Select from some newspaper half a dozen adver- 
tisements and write them on the blackboard. Call attention to the 
forms, and give such instruction as the pupil will need in the following 
lesson. 

l. Write an advertisement for a situation as book-keeper 
in some large store. State your qualifications and give 
references. 



220 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

2, Write such an answer to your advertisement as you 
would like to receive. 

3, Advertise the loss of a watch, giving some particulars, 
and offering a reward. 

4, Write an advertisement, stating that you have found 
a watch which the owner can have by proving property 
and paying charges. 

I/ESSON XVIII. 

Dictation and Conversation Exercise. 

After writing the following proverbs, tell their meaning 
in your own words : 

1. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet. 

2. The borrower is servant to the lender. 

3. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. 

4. The wicked flee when no man pursueth. 

5. Give me neither poverty nor riches. 

6. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. 

7. Drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. 

8. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom. 

9. Be not righteous overmuch. 

10. Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find 
it after many days. 

11. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures 
of silver. 

12. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, .... 
at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an 
adder. 

To the Teacher. — If desirable, this lesson may be divided into two 
exercises. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 221 

iiESSoisr xix. 

Review Exercise. 

The following words have been selected from preceding 
lessons on " Verb-forms," and they are all taken from the 
fourth column of words in your tables : 



sat 


lay 


took 


went 


new 


shook 


gave 


chose 


wrote 


came 


rose 


blew 


wore 


saw 


drove 


grew 


began 


threw 


ate 


did 



1, Write from memory the first and the fifth form for 
each word. 

2. Use each word in the columns, in an oral sentence, 
clearly indicating the time referred to. 

IiESSOK XX. 

Study and commit to memory the following poem, 
making it the basis of a conversation exercise: 

THE GLADNESS OF NATURE. 

1. Is this a time to be cloudy and sad, 

When our mother nature laughs around; 
When even the deep blue heavens look glad, 

And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground ? 

2. There are notes of joy from the hangbird and wren, 

And the gossip of swallows through all the sky; 
The ground-squirrel gaily chirps by his den, 
And the wilding bee hums merrily by. 

3. The clouds are at play in the azure space, 

And their shadows at play on the bright green vale, 
And here they stretch to the frolic chase, 
And there they roll on the easy gale. 



222 LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 

4. There's a dance of leaves in that aspen bower, 

There's a titter of winds in that beechen tree, 
There's a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower, 
And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea. 

5. And look at the broad-faced sun, how he smiles 

On the dewy earth that smiles in his ray, 
On the leaping waters and gay young isles, 
Ay, look, and he '11 smile thy gloom away. 

William Cullen Bryant. 

To the Teacher. — Read with the pupils any or all of the following 
poems. Conversation should of course be a part of each exercise : 
"Song of Marion's Men," "The Land of Dreams," "The Wind and 
the Brook," "Seventy-Six," "To the Fringed Gentian," " The Green 
Mountain Boys," The White-Footed Deer," "To a Mosquito," and 
" The Little People of the Snow." See page 223. 



LANGUAGE EXERCISES. 223 

Poems Used op Referred to in the Preceding Pages. 



These may be found in the Complete Works of the authors, and in 
the smaller collections, many of which have been prepared especially 
for school use. 

The teacher is strongly urged to make the reading of the various 
authors as broad and comprehensive as possible. The lessons in the 
book are only suggestive of a very extended line of language study, 
upon the same general plan, in connection with the reading and 
memorizing of the best productions of standard writers. 

The poems of Bryant are published by D. Appleton & Company, 
1, 3, and 5 Bond Street, New York. 

The writings of the Gary Sisters, Holmes, -Longfellow, Lowell, and 
Whittier are published by Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 4 Park 
Street, Boston, Mass. 

The Household Editions of these various authors are published at 
about $1.50 each, postpaid. The smaller collections referred to can be 
obtained of the publishers named above, postage paid, at from 15 cents 
to 60 cents each. Among those of special service to teachers are : 

Modern Classics. — Vol.1. — Longfellow: Evangeline; The Court- 
ship of Miles Standish ; Favorite Poems. Vol. 4. — Whittier : Snow- 
Bound; The Tent on the Beach; Favorite Poems. Vol. 5. — Lowell : 
The Vision of Sir Launfal; Favorite Poems. Vol. 30. — Holmes: 
Favorite Poems ; My Hunt after the " Captain." 

The Riverside Literature Series. — No. 1. — Longfellow's Evange- 
line. No. 4. — Whittier's Snow-Bound and Among the Hills. No. 5. — 
Whittier's Mabel Martin, Maud Muller, and Other Poems. No. 6. — 
Holmes's Grandmother's Story and Other Poems. No. 11. — Long- 
fellow's The Children's Hour and Other Poems. Nos. 13, 14. — 
Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha. No. 30. — Lowell's The Vision 
of Sir Launfal and Other Pieces. No. 33. — Longfellow's Tales of a 
Wayside Inn, Part I. No. 38. — Longfellow's The Building of the Ship 
and Other Poems. 

Bryant Leaflets for Homes, Libraries, and Schools. 

Holmes Leaflets, containing A Ballad of The Boston Tea Party, 
Lexington, The Comet, etc. 

Longfellow Leaflets, containing Paul Revere's Ride, The Building 
of the Ship, The Children's Hour, and Other Selections. 

Whittier Leaflets, containing Barbara Frietchie, Mabel Martin, 
Maud Muller, The Three Bells, etc. 

Teachers will do well to procure from the various publishers cata- 
logues raid lists of special issues of standard works for school use. 



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